RUST

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does rust mean? 

• RUST (noun)
  The noun RUST has 4 senses:

1. a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture

2. a plant disease that produces a reddish-brown discoloration of leaves and stems; caused by various rust fungi

3. the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water

4. any of various fungi causing rust disease in plants

  Familiarity information: RUST used as a noun is uncommon.

• RUST (adjective)
  The adjective RUST has 1 sense:

1. of the brown color of rust

  Familiarity information: RUST used as an adjective is very rare.

• RUST (verb)
  The verb RUST has 3 senses:

1. become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid

2. cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid

3. become coated with oxide

  Familiarity information: RUST used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

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

ferric oxide (a red oxide of iron)

Meronyms (substance of "rust"):

goethite; gothite (a red or yellow or brown mineral; an oxide of iron that is a common constituent of rust)

Derivation:

rust (become coated with oxide)

rust (become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid)

rust (cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid)

rusty (of the brown color of rust)

rusty (covered with or consisting of rust)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A plant disease that produces a reddish-brown discoloration of leaves and stems; caused by various rust fungi

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

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

plant disease (a disease that affects plants)

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

blister rust; white-pine rust; white pine blister rust (any of several diseases of pines caused by rust fungi of the genus Cronartium and marked by destructive invasion of bark and sapwood and producing blisters externally)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

rust; rusting

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

corroding; corrosion; erosion (erosion by chemical action)

oxidation; oxidisation; oxidization (the process of oxidizing; the addition of oxygen to a compound with a loss of electrons; always occurs accompanied by reduction)

Meronyms (substance of "rust"):

ferric oxide (a red oxide of iron)

Derivation:

rust (become coated with oxide)

rust (become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid)

rust (cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Any of various fungi causing rust disease in plants

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

rust; rust fungus

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

fungus (an organism of the kingdom Fungi lacking chlorophyll and feeding on organic matter; ranging from unicellular or multicellular organisms to spore-bearing syncytia)

Meronyms (parts of "rust"):

aecium (fruiting body of some rust fungi bearing chains of aeciospores)

aeciospore (spore of a rust fungus formed in an aecium)

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

flax rust; flax rust fungus; Melampsora lini (fungus causing flax rust)

blister rust; Cronartium ribicola (fungus causing white pine blister rust and having a complex life cycle requiring a plant of genus Ribes as alternate host)

Puccinia graminis; wheat rust (rust fungus that attacks wheat)

apple rust; cedar-apple rust; Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae (rust fungus causing rust spots on apples and pears etc)

Holonyms ("rust" is a member of...):

order Uredinales; Uredinales (rust fungi: parasitic fungi causing rust in plants; sometimes placed in)

• RUST (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of the brown color of rust

Synonyms:

rust; rust-brown; rusty

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

• RUST (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rust    ... he / she / it rusts   
Past simple: rusted   
Past participle: rusted   
-ing form: rusting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

corrode; rust

Context example:

The pipes rusted

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

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

Verb group:

corrode; eat; rust (cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid)

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

eat away; fret (wear away or erode)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

These cars won't rust

Derivation:

rust (the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water)

rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

corrode; eat; rust

Context example:

The steady dripping of water rusted the metal stopper in the sink

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

damage (inflict damage upon)

Verb group:

corrode; rust (become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

rust (the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water)

rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become coated with oxide

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

oxidate; oxidise; oxidize (enter into a combination with oxygen or become converted into an oxide)

Verb group:

oxidate; oxidise; oxidize (add oxygen to or combine with oxygen)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

rust (the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water)

rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)

 Context examples 

"I should certainly weep if you killed a poor deer, and then my jaws would rust again."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Examples of oxidation are rust and the brown color on a cut apple.

(Oxidation, NCI Dictionary)

It is also used to remove rust.

(Phosphoric acid, NCI Dictionary)

“What are these bits of stone, and of wood, and rusted nails, which are set out in front of him?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The coat is a tri-color double coat (black with rust and white markings).

(Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, NCI Thesaurus)

It was locked; and lying near by on the flags, they found the key, already stained with rust.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He then desired me to draw my scimitar, which, although it had got some rust by the sea water, was, in most parts, exceeding bright.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The closed gates are of heavy old oak and iron, all eaten with rust.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In the stern-sheets I found a rusty ten-gauge shot-gun and a sailor’s sheath-knife broken short across and so rusted as to be almost unrecognizable.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

On Mars the coloring agent is iron oxide, commonly known as rust.

(Pluto: The 'Other' Red Planet, NASA)