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Decay

 - 7 dictionary results

de⋅cay

  [di-key]
Use Decay in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to become decomposed; rot: vegetation that was decaying.
2. to decline in excellence, prosperity, health, etc.; deteriorate.
3. Physics. (of a radioactive nucleus) to change spontaneously into one or more different nuclei in a process in which atomic particles, as alpha particles, are emitted from the nucleus, electrons are captured or lost, or fission takes place.
–verb (used with object)
4. to cause to decay or decompose; rot: The dampness of the climate decayed the books.
–noun
5. decomposition; rot: Decay made the wood unsuitable for use.
6. a gradual falling into an inferior condition; progressive decline: the decay of international relations; the decay of the Aztec civilizations.
7. decline in or loss of strength, health, intellect, etc.: His mental decay is distressing.
8. Also called disintegration, radioactive decay. Physics. a radioactive process in which a nucleus undergoes spontaneous transformation into one or more different nuclei and simultaneously emits radiation, loses electrons, or undergoes fission.
9. Aerospace. the progressive, accelerating reduction in orbital parameters, particularly apogee and perigee, of a spacecraft due to atmospheric drag.
Origin:
1425–75; (v.) late ME decayen < ONF decair, equiv. to de- de- + cair to fall < VL *cadēre, for L cadere; (n.) late ME, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
de⋅cay⋅a⋅ble, adjective
de⋅cayed⋅ness  [di-keyd-nis, -key-id-] , adjective
de⋅cay⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
1. degenerate, wither; putrefy. Decay, decompose, disintegrate, rot imply a deterioration or falling away from a sound condition. Decay implies either entire or partial deterioration by progressive natural changes: Teeth decay. Decompose suggests the reducing of a substance to its component elements: Moisture makes some chemical compounds decompose. Disintegrate emphasizes the breaking up, going to pieces, or wearing away of anything, so that its original wholeness is impaired: Rocks disintegrate. Rot is a stronger word than decay and is esp. applied to decaying vegetable matter, which may or may not emit offensive odors: Potatoes rot. 5. putrefaction. 7. deterioration, decadence, impairment, dilapidation, degeneration.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Decay
de·cay   (dĭ-kā')   
v.   de·cayed, de·cay·ing, de·cays

v.   intr.

  1. Biology To break down into component parts; rot.

  2. Physics To disintegrate or diminish by radioactive decay.

  3. Electronics To decrease gradually in magnitude. Used of voltage or current.

  4. Aerospace To decrease in orbit. Used of an artificial satellite.

  5. To fall into ruin: a civilization that had begun to decay.

  6. Pathology To decline in health or vigor; waste away.

  7. To decline from a state of normality, excellence, or prosperity; deteriorate.

v.   tr.
To cause to decay.
n.  

    1. The destruction or decomposition of organic matter as a result of bacterial or fungal action; rot.

    2. Rotted matter.

  2. Physics Radioactive decay.

  3. Aerospace The decrease in orbital altitude of an artificial satellite as a result of conditions such as atmospheric drag.

  4. A gradual deterioration to an inferior state: tooth decay; urban decay.

  5. A falling into ruin.


[Middle English decayen, from Old French decair, from Vulgar Latin *dēcadere : Latin dē-, de- + Latin cadere, to fall; see kad- in Indo-European roots.]
de·cay'er n.
Synonyms: These verbs refer to gradual change resulting in destruction or dissolution. Decay can denote partial deterioration short of complete destruction: Brush and floss regularly to prevent teeth from decaying.
Rot is sometimes synonymous with decay, but often, like putrefy, stresses offensiveness to the sense of smell: The food left on the counter began to rot. Arctic cold prevented the prehistoric animal from putrefying.
Spoil usually refers to the process by which perishable substances become unfit for use or consumption: Put the fish in the refrigerator before they spoil.
Crumble implies physical breakdown into small fragments or particles: The ancient church had crumbled to ruins.
To molder is to crumble to dust: The shawl had moldered away in the trunk.
Disintegrate refers to complete breakdown into component parts: The sandstone façade had disintegrated from exposure to the elements.
Decompose, largely restricted to the breakdown of substances into their chemical components, also connotes rotting and putrefying, both literally and figuratively: "trivial personalities decomposing in the eternity of print" (Virginia Woolf).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

decay 
c.1460, from O.Fr. decair, from V.L. *decadere "to fall off," from L. cadere "to fall" (see case (1)). Meaning "gradual decrease in radioactivity" is from 1897.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1de·cay
Pronunciation: di-'kA
Function: intransitive verb
: to undergo decomposition decay transitive senses
: to destroy by decomposition

Main Entry: 2decay
Function: noun
1 a : ROT; 1 specifically : aerobic decomposition of proteins chiefly by bacteria b : the product of decay
2 a : spontaneous decrease in the number of radioactive atoms in radioactivematerial b : spontaneous disintegration (as of an atom or a nuclear particle)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

decay de·cay (dĭ-kā')
n.

  1. The destruction or decomposition of organic matter as a result of bacterial or fungal action; rot.

  2. Dental caries.

  3. The loss of information that was registered by the senses and processed into the short-term memory system.

  4. Radioactive decay.

v. de·cayed, de·cay·ing, de·cays

  1. To break down into component parts; rot.

  2. To disintegrate or diminish by radioactive decay.

  3. To decline in health or vigor; waste away.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

decay
[Nuclear physics] An automatic conversion which is applied to most array-valued expressions in C; they "decay into" pointer-valued expressions pointing to the array's first element. This term is not used in the official standard for the language.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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