decay

Formsdecays, decaying, decayed

Pluraldecays (some meanings)

1. 1
   rot awayverbintransitive

   To rot or go bad, as food, plants and dead animals do.

   The pumpkins on the porch started to decay a week after Halloween.

   Fallen leaves decay and make the soil rich.

   Similarrot, decompose, spoil, putrefy

2. 2
   rotten partnoununcountable

   The slow rotting of something, or the rotten part that is left.

   The dentist found decay in two of my back teeth.

   The old barn smelled of damp and decay.

   Similarrot, decomposition, putrefaction

   Note
3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To get worse, weaker or less healthy over time.

   Without care, old houses decay quickly.

   The neighborhood decayed after the factory closed.

   Similardeteriorate, decline, crumble, degenerate

   Oppositeimprove, flourish

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A loss of quality, strength, importance or wealth.

   The mayor promised to stop the decay of the old downtown.

   Many people worry about moral decay in politics.

   Similardecline, deterioration, degeneration, disrepair, ruin

   Note
5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To make something rot or get worse.

   Too much sugar can decay your teeth.

   The damp air decayed the old books in the basement.

   Similarrot, corrode, erode, weaken, undermine

   Note
6. 6
   verbintransitive

   Of an unstable atom, to change by splitting, giving off radiation, or gaining or losing electrons.

   Over time, radium decays into radon gas.

   Some unstable atoms decay in less than a second.

   Note
7. 7
   nuclear changenouncountable or uncountableabbreviationellipsis

   Short for radioactive decay. Scientists often just say decay.

   Old nuclear fuel stays hot for years because of decay inside it.

   Decay inside the rock slowly turns some of its uranium into lead.

   Note
8. 8
   electric fadingnoununcountable

   The slow fading of stored electricity, a magnetic field or an electric current.

   After months on the shelf, decay of the charge left the battery almost empty.

   The students watched the decay of the current after they turned off the power.

   Similardecrease, decline, loss

9. 9
   sink (orbit)verbintransitive

   Of a satellite's path in space, to slowly get lower over a long time.

   The old satellite's orbit decayed until it burned up in the sky.

   Without small boosts, the station's orbit will decay.

   Note
10. 10
    sink (orbit)noununcountable

    The slow change in a satellite's path around Earth, caused by air pushing against it.

    Drag from the air causes decay in the satellite's path, so it slowly sinks lower.

    Engineers fire small rockets to fight the decay of the space station's orbit.

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