Etymology : Middle English roten, from Old English rotian; akin to Old High German rOzzEn to rot
Pronunciation : 'rät
Function : verb
Date : before 12th century
1. decay, putrefaction; breakdown, deterioration; nonsense, meaningless statements (Slang). decay, putrefy, spoil; speak nonsense, utter meaningless statements. rot\rot\, v. t.
2. to make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber.
3. to expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.rot \rot\, n.
4. process of rotting; decay; putrefaction.
5. (bot.) a disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi. see:
bitter rot, black rot, etc., below.
6. [cf. g. rotz glanders.] a fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals. it is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder. see:
1st fluke,.
7. his cattle must of rot and murrain die.
8. steering rod.
9. To undergo a process common to organic substances by which they lose the cohesion of their parts and pass through certain chemical changes, giving off usually in some stages of the process more or less offensive odors; to become decomposed by a natural process; to putrefy; to decay.
10. Figuratively: To perish slowly; to decay; to die; to become corrupt.
11. To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber.
12. To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.
13. Process of rotting; decay; putrefaction.
14. A disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi.
15. See Bitter rot, Black rot, etc., below.
16. A fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals.
17. It is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder.
18. See 1st Fluke, 2.
19. "rod; steering rod". ,-tu auto. drag link. rod.
20. drag link.
21. 1. When food, wood, or another substance rots, or when something rots it, it becomes softer and is gradually destroyed. If we don't unload it soon, the grain will start rotting in the silos Sugary canned drinks rot your teeth.
22. If there is rot in something, especially something that is made of wood, parts of it have decayed and fallen apart. Investigations had revealed extensive rot in the beams under the ground floor.
23. You can use the rot to refer to the way something gradually gets worse. For example, if you are talking about the time when the rot set in, you are talking about the time when a situation began to get steadily worse and worse. In many schools, the rot is beginning to set in. Standards are falling all the time.
24. If you say that someone is being left to rot in a particular place, especially in a prison, you mean that they are being left there and their physical and mental condition is being allowed to get worse and worse. Most governments simply leave the long-term jobless to rot on the dole. see also:
dry rot.