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TOEFL IELTS BNC: 6007 COCA: 7931

decay

Word family 
Related topics: Biology, Chemistry
de·cay1 /dɪˈkeɪ/ ●●○ verb
1  [intransitiveI, transitiveT]DECAY to be slowly destroyed by a natural chemical process, or to make something do this （使）腐爛；（使）變壞
Her body was already starting to decay.
她的屍體已經開始腐爛。
Most archaeological finds are broken, damaged, or decayed.
大部分考古發現物都已破裂、損壞或腐爛。
decaying organic matter
腐爛的有機物
 Register
In everyday English, people usually say rot rather than decay when talking about food: 在日常英語中,人們談論食物一般說 rot ,而不用 decay
There was a smell of rotting vegetables.
有股蔬菜腐爛的味道。
2  [intransitiveI]DECAY if buildings, structures, or areas decay, their condition gradually becomes worse 〔建築、結構或地區〕破敗，毀壞
Hundreds of historic buildings are being allowed to decay.
數百幢歷史建築被任由破敗。
Britain’s decaying inner cities
英國破敗的舊城區
3  [intransitiveI]LESS if traditional beliefs, standards etc decay, people do not believe in them or support them anymore 〔傳統觀念、標準等〕失去影響力，衰敗，衰落 SYN decline
In Orthodox Europe, mass religion seems to have decayed less.
在正教會流行的歐洲地區，集體宗教信仰的影響力似乎衰退得沒那麽嚴重。
n THESAURUS
decay to be slowly destroyed by a natural chemical process – use this especially about natural things such as wood or plants, or about teeth
The leaves decay and enrich the soil.
He had bad breath and decaying teeth.
The fabric slowly began to decay.
rot to decay. Rot is less formal than decay and is more common in everyday English
The fruit was left to rot on the ground.
rotting teeth
Most of the wood under the paint had rotted.
the smell of rotting vegetation (=decaying leaves and plants)
go off British EnglishBrE if food goes off, it starts to smell bad and is no longer be safe to eat
I think the milk’s gone off.
The meat smells as if it's gone off.
spoil if food spoils, it starts to decay, so that it is no longer safe to eat. Spoil is more formal and is less common in everyday British English than go off
Food left in the sun will quickly start to spoil.
go mouldy British EnglishBrE, moldy American EnglishAmE to begin to have a soft green or black substance growing on the surface of the food, so that it is not good to eat anymore
Ugh, the cheese has gone mouldy!
decompose formal to decay – use this especially about dead plants or flesh
leaves decomposing on the forest floor
putrefy formal to decay and have a very bad smell – use this especially about flesh or plants
After two days, the body was already beginning to putrefy.
putrefying meat
biodegrade to decay naturally into substances that do not harm the environment – use this especially about man-made materials and chemicals
Unlike many other materials, plastic does not biodegrade.
Examples from the Corpus
decay• Freezing conditions will stop most things from decaying.• Now even elections seem to be decaying.• If you eat too many sweets, it'll make your teeth decay.• Some of the apples lying on the ground had already begun to decay.• A few species laid eggs beneath mounds of rotten vegetation that warmed as it decayed.• Bones signify the eternal being which does not decay.• There was now not the slightest doubt that Hsu was decaying and losing her structural integrity.• The decaying body of a man was found in a vacant warehouse.• It decays by a scheme that has two paths.• This decaying city was once the busiest port in the world.• However, objects decay despite our best efforts to conserve them.• the decaying moral values of American society• In a warm climate where flesh decays rapidly, there is more risk of infection from dead animals.• In one path, the 40K decays to a calcium isotope, 40Ca.• The buildings still stand, slowly decaying, without past or future, or any links with the surrounding land.
Related topics: Biology, Chemistry
decay2 ●●○ noun [uncountableU]
1  DECAYthe natural chemical change that causes the slow destruction of something 腐爛，朽爛
old cars in various stages of decay
損壞程度不等的舊車
tooth decay
蛀牙
2  DESTROYthe gradual destruction of buildings, structures etc because they have not been cared for 〔疏於管理而造成建築物等的〕破敗，衰敗
poverty and urban decay
貧窮和市區的破敗
fall into (a state of) decay
During the war, the area fell into decay.
戰爭期間這個地區衰敗了。
3  LESSthe gradual destruction of ideas, beliefs, social or political systems etc 〔觀念、信仰、社會制度、政治制度等的〕衰退，沒落
moral decay
道德的敗壞
n COLLOCATIONS
verbs
cause decay
Bacteria stick to food and cause decay.
prevent decay
You can use a preservative on the wood to prevent further decay.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + decay
tooth/dental decay
Eating too much sugar causes tooth decay.
natural decay
Everything in our environment is subject to natural decay.
phrases
the process of decay
The natural processes of decay gradually destroys archaeological sites.
a sign of decay
I couldn't see any signs of decay on the fruit.
Examples from the Corpus
decay• And it's the bodily imperfections and decay which lead us to desire a permanence of the human essence.• I have noticed decay in some of the floorboards.• Tiny organisms that live in the soil assist the process of decay.• Now, however, the great Latin cities fell prey to widespread depopulation, economic decline, and physical decay.• Without renewal, decay becomes irredeemable.• But nomatterwhat cosmetics we use, what exercises we do, the decay of our bodies moves inexorably forward.• The decay constant F includes any process that destroys c1, c2 or their correlation.• the decay of the central government in Russia• Brushing your teeth regularly helps to fight against tooth decay.• Its rough surface traps the microflora responsible for halitosis and tooth decay.• An optimistic theory of evolutionary progress was surreptitiously beginning to replace the pessimistic doctrine of universal decay.
stages of decay• The place was littered with barbed wire and rotting lumber and a dozen old boats in various stages of decay.• The organic matter in soil consists of plant and animal debris or waste in varying stages of decay.
fall into (a state of) decay• From the time of Laurence little work was carried out on the Palace and it was again allowed to fall into decay.
Origin decay1
(1400-1500) Old North French decaïr, from Late Latin decadere “to fall, sink”

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