corrode means to eat away bit by bit; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
Why this word is great
CORRODE — [Verb] To wear away or destroy a material, especially metal, gradually by chemical action. From Latin corrōdere ("to gnaw away"), from com- ("thoroughly") + rōdere ("to gnaw"). Unlike "erode," which implies a gradual, natural abrasion by wind or water, or "decay," which suggests the organic rot of fruit or wood, "corrode" speaks of a hidden, molecular hunger. It is the silent verdigris blooming on a copper roof, the cancerous orange bloom eating a car's fender from within, and the pitted ruin of a shipwreck dissolving into its own brine: a tangible melancholy of the material world being devoured by its own atmosphere.
verb
- To eat away bit by bit; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali.
- To consume; to wear away; to prey upon; to impair.“My morale is being corroded day by day.”
- To have corrosive action; to be subject to corrosion.