Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A fungal disease that causes timber to become brittle and crumble into powder.
  • noun A plant disease in which the plant tissue remains relatively dry while fungi invade and ultimately decay bulbs, fruits, or woody tissues.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To affect with dry-rot.
  • noun A decay affecting timber, occasioned by various species of fun-gi, the mycelium of which penetrates the timber, destroying it.
  • noun Figuratively, a concealed or unsuspected inward decay or degeneration, as of public morals or public spirit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The crumbly, friable decayed portions of wooden members of buildings, especially at or below grade, usually caused by a fungal infection.
  • noun Metaphorically, a progressive malaise of decay, corruption, or datedness.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a crumbling and drying of timber or bulbs or potatoes or fruit caused by a fungus
  • noun a fungus causing dry rot
  • verb affect or be affected with dry rot

Etymologies

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