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# rot

«rot» in Mova's school dictionary: **To go soft, bad and break down slowly because of bacteria…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (rot, rots, rotted, rotting); noun (rot — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To go soft, bad and break down slowly because of bacteria and fungi, like old fruit, wood or dead leaves; to decay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#m1)

2) To make something decay (Sugar rots your teeth). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#m2)

3) Rot (noun): the decay itself, or a part that has gone bad. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#m3)

4) (informal, old British) Nonsense (Don't talk rot!). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science, decomposers (bacteria, fungi, worms) make dead plants and animals rot, putting nutrients back into the soil — that is how compost works. In health: sugar and plaque rot teeth; food rots faster when warm, so keep it in the fridge. In safety: rotten wood in trees, fences and bridges can break. Phrases: rot away, left to rot, tooth rot, dry rot, brain rot (slang for too much silly screen time).

### examples

- The apples left on the ground began to rot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#x1)
- Fungi and bacteria help dead leaves rot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#x2)
- Sweets can rot your teeth if you don't brush. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#x3)
- The old wooden fence was rotting at the bottom. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#x4)
- Food rots faster in a warm room than in the fridge. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#x5)
- Worms help rot down the vegetable peelings in the compost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#x6)
- «What rot!» said Grandpa, laughing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rot/#x7)

### note

Past: rotted, rotting (double «t»). Adjective: rotten. «Rot» and «decay» mean almost the same; «decompose» is the science word.

### In the corpora

- [Butterflies and flies taste with their feet, so a red admiral landing on a rotting plum is tasting it as it lands.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers/1/)
- [Bread fills ducks with little goodness and rotting leftovers dirty the pond; oats, peas, sweetcorn or duck food are better.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/123-bugs-bunny-and-daffy-duck-real-rabbits-hares-and-ducks/16/)
- [Rhino horns are made of keratin, the same stuff as hair and nails, so they rot away and rarely become fossils.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/385-ice-age-ukraine-and-europe-cave-bears-cave-lions-the-siberian-unicorn-and-mammoth-bone-houses/13/)
- [Rotting is not only bad news.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/23-browning-apples-rotting-and-mould/6/)
- ["Dad's car rots" hides the vegetable CARROT across "car" and "rots".](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/57-olympiad-riddles-lipograms-and-hidden-words/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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