decay
| 1. |
(verb) fall into decay or ruin; "The unoccupied house started to decay" |
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Synonyms: crumble, delapidate |
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Related Words: break, bust, corrode, degenerate, deteriorate, droop, eat at, erode, fall apart, gnaw, gnaw at, rust, wear, wear away, wear out, weather, wilt |
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| 2. |
(verb) undergo decay or decomposition |
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Related Words: change, decompose, go bad, molder, moulder, putrefy, rot, spoil |
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| 3. |
(noun) the organic phenomenon of rotting |
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Synonyms: decomposition |
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Related Words: organic phenomenon |
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| 4. |
(noun) the phenomenon of spontaneous changes in the nucleus of an atom |
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Synonyms: radioactive decay |
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Related Words: physical phenomenon |
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| 5. |
(noun) the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive substance along with the emission of ionizing radiation |
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Synonyms: disintegration, radioactive decay |
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Related Words: nuclear reaction |
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| 6. |
(noun) a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current |
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Synonyms: decline |
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Related Words: decrease, decrement, exponential decay, exponential return |
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| 7. |
(noun) the process of gradually becoming inferior |
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Related Words: action, activity, caries, cavity, corruption, decomposition, dental caries, dilapidation, natural action, natural process, putrefaction, rot, rotting, ruin, spoilage, spoiling, tooth decay |
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| 8. |
(noun) an inferior state resulting from the process of decaying; "the corpse was in an advanced state of decay"; "the house had fallen into a serious state of decay and disrepair" |
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Related Words: decomposition, deterioration, disintegration, impairment, putrefaction, rot, unsoundness |
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| 9. |
(verb) lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current; of particles |
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Synonyms: decompose, disintegrate |
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Related Words: change integrity |
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