RUSTS Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

rusts

verb

present tense third-person singular of rust

as in rots

to form rust The old car was left to rust in the yard of the abandoned house.

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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 rusts The red planet owes its distinctive hue to an oxidizing process that rusts iron present in the rocks and dust of Mars. — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 24 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rusts

Verb

Parents used to tell their children that television rots the brain; now it’s considered a medium for legitimate art.

— New York Times, New York Times, 1 June 2026
Training plants to stay off the ground instead of trailing prevents many common fungal diseases, fruit spots, and rots.

— Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 May 2026

Definition of rots

Verb

The research team enabled a room-temperature, four-electron chemical reaction path that forms and decomposes lithium oxide, which expands available energy storage.

— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 June 2026
Organic material trapped in reservoirs accumulates and decomposes over time, releasing methane — a potent greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to global warming, Fernández-Garrido told CNN.

— Radina Gigova, CNN Money, 27 May 2026

Definition of decomposes

Verb

Control concentrated in one person dies with that person, decays with that person's judgment, and converts to cash the day that person takes a hard enough offer.

— Kyle Westaway, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Europe will not be able to defend itself militarily if democracy decays internally.

— Wendell Wallach, Hartford Courant, 25 June 2026

Definition of decays

Verb

From that moment suspicion corrodes old loyalties, and the village’s Muslims are evacuated to a refugee camp for transport to Pakistan.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
The model has helped the team build detailed simulations of how chromium specifically corrodes when exposed to FLiNaK salt under different levels of mechanical stress and changes in the orientation of the metal surface.

— Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 14 July 2026

Definition of corrodes

Verb

Peroxide oxidizes and breaks down the chemical bonds that color stains.

— Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 June 2026
While the electron travels to the cathode to reduce carbon dioxide, the remaining hole simultaneously oxidizes the biomass molecule 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furoic acid (HMFA), thereby executing two distinct chemical upgrades at the same time.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 12 June 2026

Definition of oxidizes

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rustling

rusts

rusty

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“Rusts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rusts. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of rusts

verb

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