ROT (rotted, rotting)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: rotted    , rotting   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rot mean? 

• ROT (noun)
  The noun ROT has 3 senses:

1. a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor

2. (biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action

3. unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements)

  Familiarity information: ROT used as a noun is uncommon.

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

1. break down

2. become physically weaker

  Familiarity information: ROT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ROT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

putrefaction; rot

Hypernyms ("rot" is a kind of...):

decay (an inferior state resulting from the process of decaying)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rot"):

corruption; putrescence; putridness; rottenness (in a state of progressive putrefaction)

Derivation:

rot (break down)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

breakdown; decomposition; putrefaction; rot; rotting

Hypernyms ("rot" is a kind of...):

decay (the process of gradually becoming inferior)

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Derivation:

rot (break down)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

buncombe; bunk; bunkum; guff; hogwash; rot

Hypernyms ("rot" is a kind of...):

drivel; garbage (a worthless message)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rot"):

bull; bullshit; crap; dogshit; horseshit; Irish bull; shit (obscene words for unacceptable behavior)

• ROT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rot    ... he / she / it rots   
Past simple: rotted   
Past participle: rotted   
-ing form: rotting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break down

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

decompose; molder; moulder; rot

Context example:

The bodies decomposed in the heat

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

decay (undergo decay or decomposition)

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

biodegrade (break down naturally through the action of biological agents)

hang (suspend (meat) in order to get a gamey taste)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s something

Derivation:

rot ((biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action)

rot (a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor)

rotting ((biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become physically weaker

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

rot; waste

Context example:

Political prisoners are wasting away in many prisons all over the world

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

degenerate; deteriorate; devolve; drop (grow worse)

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

gangrene; mortify; necrose; sphacelate (undergo necrosis)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

It's rot; it's absurd; it's unreal.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A taxonomic family of bacterium in the phylum Proteobacteria that may cause wilt and rot in a number of plant species.

(Burkholderiaceae, NCI Thesaurus)

A peculiar stagnant smell hung over the anchorage—a smell of sodden leaves and rotting tree trunks.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

These bacteria secrete a compound called "tunicamycin" to keep rival bacteria from reaching choice resources, like rotting plant material.

(Soil Bacterium Tapped for Penicillin Guard Duty, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

While this allows them to be fast swimmers, it also means their skeletons often rot away instead of fossilizing.

(Ancient sharks likely more diverse than previously thought, National Science Foundation)

C. bifermentans is found in cases of gaseous gangrene and in rotting meat.

(Clostridium bifermentans, NCI Thesaurus)

It’s the infernal plan of turning a crew over from ship to ship and leaving the officers behind that rots the Navy.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But it was Sarah’s fault, and may the curse of a broken man put a blight on her and set the blood rotting in her veins!

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A. putredinis is pathogenic in humans and farm animals, causing bacterial appendicitis and foot rot.

(Alistipes putredinis, NCI Thesaurus)

In one part, carcases of houses, inauspiciously begun and never finished, rotted away.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)