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# degrade

«degrade» in Mova's school dictionary: **To make something worse in quality or condition:…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (degrade, degrades, degraded, degrading)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To make something worse in quality or condition: pollution degrades the soil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#m1)

2) (science) To break down slowly into smaller, simpler parts: plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#m2)

3) To treat someone without respect, making them feel worthless: it degrades people to be shouted at. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#m3)

4) Something degrading is shameful and makes a person feel less worthy or respected. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons materials degrade over time; biodegradable materials can be broken down by living things like bacteria. In geography, land and habitats are degraded by pollution. In kindness lessons, degrading words and treatment are wrong. Phrases: biodegradable, degrade over time, degrading treatment, environmental degradation.

### examples

- Plastic bags take a very long time to degrade. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#x1)
- Banana peel degrades quickly in a compost heap. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#x2)
- Pollution has degraded the river. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#x3)
- (formal) Habitat degradation threatens many animals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#x4)
- It is degrading to laugh at someone who is hurt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#x5)
- Old photos degrade and fade in sunlight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#x6)
- “I am the son of the prime minister of a great nation, and yet see what a degrading occupation I am reduced to.” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/#x7)

### note

Regular verb: degraded, degrading. Noun: degradation. "Biodegradable" means something living things can break down. "Degrading" as an adjective means insulting or humiliating.

### In the corpora

- [A vivid example: "We degraded the enemy's capability" can mean "we bombed them and many people died".](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/26-war-and-the-military/3/)
- ["Degrade" in war talk means damage or destroy, often killing many people.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/26-war-and-the-military/10/)
- [About a third of the world's soils are degraded by erosion, salt, pollution or overuse.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/56-soil/16/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «degrade» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/degrade/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.