rotted; rotting
1
a
: to undergo decomposition from the action of bacteria or fungi
b
: to become unsound or weak (as from use or chemical action)
2
a
: to go to ruin : deteriorate
b
: to become morally corrupt : degenerate
: to cause to decompose or deteriorate with or as if with rot
1
a
: the process of rotting : the state of being rotten : decay
b
: something rotten or rotting
2
a
archaic
: a wasting putrescent disease
b
: any of several parasitic diseases especially of sheep marked by necrosis and wasting
c
: plant disease marked by breakdown of tissues and caused especially by fungi or bacteria
3
: nonsense
—often used interjectionally
Synonyms
Verb
- atrophy
- crumble
- decay
- decline
- degenerate
- descend
- deteriorate
- devolve
- ebb
- regress
- retrograde
- sink
- worsen
Noun
- applesauce [slang]
- balderdash
- baloney
- boloney
- beans
- bilge
- blah
- blah-blah
- blarney
- blather
- blatherskite
- blither
- bosh
- bull [slang]
- bunk
- bunkum
- buncombe
- claptrap
- codswallop [British]
- crapola [slang]
- crock
- drivel
- drool
- fiddle
- fiddle-faddle
- fiddlesticks
- flannel [British]
- flapdoodle
- folderol
- falderal
- folly
- foolishness
- fudge
- garbage
- guff
- hogwash
- hokeypokey
- hokum
- hoodoo
- hooey
- horsefeathers [slang]
- humbug
- humbuggery
- jazz
- malarkey
- malarky
- moonshine
- muck
- nerts [slang]
- nonsense
- nuts
- piffle
- poppycock
- punk
- rubbish
- senselessness
- silliness
- slush
- stupidity
- taradiddle
- tarradiddle
- tommyrot
- tosh
- trash
- trumpery
- twaddle
Examples of rot in a Sentence
Verb
The wood had rotted away.
The apples were left to rot.
the smell of rotting garbage
Eating too much candy can rot your teeth.
Noun
They found a lot of rot in the house's roof.
That's a lot of rot!
Recent Examples on the Web
Jennifer Castenson, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
Chairs roll across a sloped office floor, and the metal-and-wood outer walls of the main building are rusted and rotting.
—Matt Krupnick, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2024
Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 Sep. 2024
Latour deployed more people to sort grapes this year to ensure any fruit exhibiting mildew, mold, or rot would be discarded.
—Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 29 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rot 
Verb
In addition to sustainability, ACRE outperforms other industry materials by being resistant to water, weather, pests, rot and splintering.
—Jennifer Castenson, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
Chairs roll across a sloped office floor, and the metal-and-wood outer walls of the main building are rusted and rotting.
—Matt Krupnick, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2024
Noun
Pathogens including powdery mildew, gray mold, root rot, and stem rots/cankers can be a problem from time to time.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 Sep. 2024
Latour deployed more people to sort grapes this year to ensure any fruit exhibiting mildew, mold, or rot would be discarded.
—Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 29 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rot
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rot
Cite this Entry
“Rot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rot. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rot
1 of 2 verb
rotted; rotting
1
a
: to decay due to the action of fungi or bacteria
b
: to become unsafe or weak (as from use or chemical action)
2
: to go to ruin
3
: to cause to rot
rot
2 of 2 noun1
a
: the process of rotting : the state of being rotten
b
: something rotten or rotting
2
a
: a disease of plants or animals marked by the decay of tissue
b
: an area of decayed tissue
pruned the rot from the tree trunk
3
: nonsense sense 1
don't talk rot
Medical Definition
rot
1 of 2 intransitive verb
rotted; rotting
: to undergo decomposition from the action of bacteria or fungi
rot
2 of 2 noun1
: the process of rotting : the state of being rotten
2
: any of several parasitic diseases especially of sheep marked by necrosis and wasting
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