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
Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Severe winds brought dust that blocked the light needed for bean pods to grow in recent months, a season after heavy rainfall spread a rotting disease.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
The season prior, heavy rainfall spread a rotting disease.
—Francis Kokutse and Jesssica Donati, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
Solid, buoyant, and resistant to rot, the trees often grow to heights of 150 feet.
—The Editors, Robb Report, 28 Mar. 2024
The toads live in the forest leaves, under rotting logs and near creeks or streams.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
One frequent offender is durian fruit, with its distinctive odor of honey, sewage and rotting onion.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
In too-wet growing environments, diseases such as Botrytis blight (gray mold), root and stem rot, and rust are possible.
—Derek Carwood, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Mar. 2024
Though it’s set 60 years in the past, the horrors and rot at the center of the Catholic Church have since come to light publicly.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024
Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Between heat, wood rot, fire risk and termites, the islands cultivate the idea of impermanence.
—Kristina Linnea Garcia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2024
Each home is engineered to resist mold, rot, termites, and harsh weather, ensuring worry-free living.
—Molly Peck, USA TODAY, 27 Jan. 2024
Or for the rot lurking in the heart of Scotland Yard.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 19 Dec. 2023
There will be political points scored off of prudish hypocrisy and modern-day social rot.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2024
In saguaros, dehydration, among other things, will lead to bacterial infections and internal rot.
—Caralin Nunes, The Arizona Republic, 18 Mar. 2024
His face bore not the solemn trace of history but the mark of the national rot to come.
—Joseph O’Neill, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
Some residents have been calling the group, saying that the fruit is already starting to fall off their trees and rot.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Feb. 2024
Verb
Soon, white spray was shooting off both sides of the barge as the tug chugged through the water, pushing a thousand tons of rotting cargo across the harbor.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Severe winds brought dust that blocked the light needed for bean pods to grow in recent months, a season after heavy rainfall spread a rotting disease.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
The season prior, heavy rainfall spread a rotting disease.
—Francis Kokutse and Jesssica Donati, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
Solid, buoyant, and resistant to rot, the trees often grow to heights of 150 feet.
—The Editors, Robb Report, 28 Mar. 2024
The toads live in the forest leaves, under rotting logs and near creeks or streams.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
One frequent offender is durian fruit, with its distinctive odor of honey, sewage and rotting onion.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
In too-wet growing environments, diseases such as Botrytis blight (gray mold), root and stem rot, and rust are possible.
—Derek Carwood, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Mar. 2024
Though it’s set 60 years in the past, the horrors and rot at the center of the Catholic Church have since come to light publicly.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024
Noun
Sunak dated the rot back thirty years without explaining why, but, presumably, to indicate the fall of Thatcher.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Between heat, wood rot, fire risk and termites, the islands cultivate the idea of impermanence.
—Kristina Linnea Garcia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2024
Each home is engineered to resist mold, rot, termites, and harsh weather, ensuring worry-free living.
—Molly Peck, USA TODAY, 27 Jan. 2024
Or for the rot lurking in the heart of Scotland Yard.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 19 Dec. 2023
There will be political points scored off of prudish hypocrisy and modern-day social rot.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2024
In saguaros, dehydration, among other things, will lead to bacterial infections and internal rot.
—Caralin Nunes, The Arizona Republic, 18 Mar. 2024
His face bore not the solemn trace of history but the mark of the national rot to come.
—Joseph O’Neill, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
Some residents have been calling the group, saying that the fruit is already starting to fall off their trees and rot.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Feb. 2024
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 18 Apr. 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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