rotting 1 of 3

Definition of rottingnext

rotting

2 of 3

noun

rotting

3 of 3

verb

present participle of rot
1
2

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rotting
Verb
The car was registered in Hempstead, Texas to Burke and impounded after being abandoned in the Hollywood Hills, where neighbors complained of a rotting smell. Jem Aswad, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026 In fact, many teens seem to have deep concerns over AI chatbots rotting their frontal lobes. Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 16 Apr. 2026 Late blight is a common disease, turning the foliage black and rotting the tubers. Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 16 Apr. 2026 The smell was overwhelming, a nauseating mix of rotting food, burning plastic, chemicals and decay that clung to my clothes and skin. CNN Money, 15 Apr. 2026 One person entered the lush, green Victorian-era greenhouse and smelled rotting eggs. ABC News, 15 Apr. 2026 Somewhere in a rotting log in Okinawa, two wingless roaches are guarding their nest together, bumping intruders with their butts. Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 13 Apr. 2026 Maybe rotting in bed, The Moth suggests, should be something to pencil in. Joshua Minsoo Kim, Pitchfork, 13 Apr. 2026 Turns out you don’t have to suffer rotting flesh to be undead. Courtney Crowder, USA Today, 10 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rotting
Adjective
  • Many grapes become too rotted and are left to wither away.
    John Mariani, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • In the blasting afternoon sun, the stench of fermenting earth and decay steams off the marsh.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Power from radioactive decay NRD claims the battery can deliver power outputs ranging from 5 nanowatts to 500 nanowatts.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 10 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Kennedy Center leadership is conducting tours with congressional staff and donors to demonstrate that the building needs major renovation due to water damage, HVAC issues and deteriorating infrastructure.
    Steven Sloan, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Lake County has taken the first steps towards absorbing the responsibilities of the essentially defunct Del Mar Woods Sanitary District, a tiny government unit consisting of a subdivision with fewer than 90 lots and deteriorating sewer pipes.
    Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The rule requires landfills to control methane emissions from decomposing waste.
    Shaun Boyd, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Drainage problems and decomposing leaves and mulch will quickly attract them.
    Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 10 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Winter storms left its gazebo teetering, 50 feet of asphalt crumbling, and a dramatic 6 foot drop down to the sand.
    Carolyn Gusoff, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026
  • The media covers it as a flash fire, not as a symptom of more dry rot in the crumbling of decorum and decency.
    Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 21 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Alice Ribes, emergency country director for the International Rescue Committee in Haiti, said millions continue to face a worsening crisis marked by escalating violence, hunger and starvation, forced displacement of people from their homes and outbreaks of disease.
    Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Flooding is worsening in parts of Michigan on Friday, with rivers still rising in some parts and receding in others.
    Terrance Friday, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • But the south side of the development, south of Diversey Parkway along Hoyne Avenue and Leavitt Street, remains fenced off and decaying.
    Adam Harrington, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2026
  • According to the Times coverage of the incident and subsequent lawsuit, the scenes shown in the classroom included autopsies, decaying cadavers and live animals being butchered, mutilated and tortured.
    Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Discard any that look dead or decayed.
    Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The farm buildings on the property—long verandas, shearing sheds, and concrete kennels—are old and decayed, remnants from long before the group showed up.
    Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Rotting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rotting. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.

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