erode

See also: Erode, érodé, and érode

English

Etymology

From French éroder, from Latin ērōdō.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈɹəʊd/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪˈɹoʊd/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ɪˈɹəʉd/
• Rhymes: -əʊd

Verb

erode (third-person singular simple present erodes, present participle eroding, simple past and past participle eroded)

1. To wear away by abrasion, corrosion, or chemical reaction.

   Synonyms: corrode, eat away, gnaw, undermine, denude

   The cliff is gradually being eroded by the waves.

2. (figurative) To destroy gradually by an ongoing process.

   Synonyms: corrode, eat away

   to erode a person’s trust

   to erode society’s morals

   • 2025 December 9, Rachel Konrad and Matt Abrahams, “Why Young People Are Struggling to Communicate”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC:

     We've been worried about adolescents' diminishing writing and speaking skills for years. Lately, we have noticed that these skills are eroding at an accelerating rate, month-over-month.

Derived terms

• bioerode
• erodable
• eroder
• erodible
• noneroding
• reerode

Related terms

• erosion

Translations

to wear away by abrasion, corrosion, or chemical reaction — see also corrode

• Belarusian: эрадзі́раваць impf or pf (eradzíravacʹ)
• Bulgarian: еродирам (bg) (erodiram), разяждам (bg) (razjaždam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 侵蝕 / 侵蚀 (zh) (qīnshí), 腐蝕 / 腐蚀 (zh) (fǔshí)

• Danish: erodere (da)
• Dutch: afslijten (nl), uitslijten (nl), verweren (nl), eroderen (nl), corroderen (nl), aantasten (nl), aanvreten (nl), uitbijten (nl), inbijten (nl)
• Finnish: kuluttaa (fi), syövyttää (fi), jäytää (fi)
• French: éroder (fr)
• German: erodieren (de)
• Italian: erodere (it), corrodere (it), rodere (it)
• Māori: ngāhorohoro, weku (physically by stream or water action)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: erodere

  Nynorsk: erodera, erodere

• Portuguese: erodir (pt)
• Russian: эроди́ровать (ru) impf or pf (erodírovatʹ)
• Spanish: erosionar (es)
• Swedish: erodera (sv)
• Ukrainian: еродува́ти impf (eroduváty)
• Vietnamese: xói mòn, xâm thực (vi), ăn mòn (vi)
• Yiddish: אַוועקשווענקען (avekshvenken)

(figurative) To destroy gradually

• Swedish: urholka (sv)

Anagrams

• doree

Italian

Verb

erode

1. third-person singular present indicative of erodere

Anagrams

• eredo, eredo-

Latin

Verb

ērōde

1. second-person singular present active imperative of ērōdō

Portuguese

Verb

erode

1. inflection of erodir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative