Definition of "rot"

rot

/ɹɒt/

verb
third-person singular simple present rots, present participle rotting, simple past and past participle rotted
1. (intransitive) To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria.
  Quotations
  Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, / To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot.
  1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […]
2. (intransitive) To decline in function or utility.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) deteriorate in any way, as in morals; to corrupt.
4. (transitive) To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes.
5. (intransitive, figurative) To spend a long period of time (in an unpleasant place).
  Quotations
  Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons.
  1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans
  Rot, poor bachelor, in your club.
  1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Book of Snobs
6. (transitive) To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.
7. (dated, slang) To talk nonsense.
  Quotations
  “Did they hang you well?” said Porson.“Don’t rot,” said Mr Watkins; “I don’t like it.”
  1894, H. G. Wells, The Hammerpond Park Burglary
  Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’
  1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, page 26
noun
countable and uncountable, plural rots
1. The process of becoming rotten; putrefaction.
2. Decaying matter.
  Quotations
  When a turkey vulture detects the scent of rot, it circles down, tracing the plume of chemicals to its source.
  2016, Nathanael Johnson, Unseen City, page 115
3. Any of several diseases in which breakdown of tissue occurs.
  Quotations
  His cattle must of rot and murrain die.
  1658–1663, John Milton, Paradise Lost
4. (uncountable) Verbal nonsense.

Definition of "rot"

rot

verb

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noun

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