ERODE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does erode mean? 

• ERODE (verb)
  The verb ERODE has 2 senses:

1. become ground down or deteriorate

2. remove soil or rock

  Familiarity information: ERODE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ERODE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they erode    ... he / she / it erodes   
Past simple: eroded   
Past participle: eroded   
-ing form: eroding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become ground down or deteriorate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

eat at; erode; gnaw; gnaw at; wear away

Context example:

Her confidence eroded

Hypernyms (to "erode" is one way to...):

crumble; decay; dilapidate (fall into decay or ruin)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

erosion (condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind)

erosive (of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Remove soil or rock

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

eat away; erode; fret

Context example:

Rain eroded the terraces

Hypernyms (to "erode" is one way to...):

damage (inflict damage upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "erode"):

wash (form by erosion)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

eroding; erosion ((geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it))

erosion (condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind)

erosive (wearing away by friction)

 Context examples 

The Martian buttes and mesas rising above the surface are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed.

(Mars Rover Views Spectacular Layered Rock Formations, NASA)

Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have found eight sites where thick deposits of ice beneath Mars' surface are exposed in faces of eroding slopes.

(Steep Slopes on Mars Reveal Structure of Buried Ice, NASA)

Compared to Sun-like stars, M dwarfs emit high levels of ultraviolet light (though less light overall), which is harmful to life and can erode a planet's atmosphere.

(A Rare Look at a Rocky Exoplanet's Surface, NASA)

Cassini has found that Titan also has rain and rivers that erode its landscape.

(Cassini Spies Titan's Tallest Peaks, NASA)

As they erode over time, the chance of unravelling increases, so the length of telomeres can be used to estimate “biological age”.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

However, old age does not necessarily mean that a planet's atmosphere has been eroded.

(TRAPPIST-1 is Older Than Our Solar System, NASA/JPL)

This is likely the result of intense starlight breaking up atmospheric molecules and eroding away the atmospheres of some planets over time, leaving behind two populations.

(Citizen Scientists Find New World with NASA Telescope, NASA)

Upon administration of APF530, the polymer slowly erodes and releases the active ingredient granisetron.

(APF530, NCI Thesaurus)

The presence of such deep cuts in the landscape indicates that whatever process created them was active for a long time or eroded down much faster than other areas on Titan's surface.

(Cassini Finds Flooded Canyons on Titan, NASA)

An example is the protozoan Halofolliculina corallasia, which causes skeletal eroding band disease.

(Plastic debris linked to coral disease, death, SciDev.Net)