[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/rotting.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / rotting

[← R](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/R/)

# rotting

«rotting» in Mova's school dictionary: **going bad and breaking down, as dead plants, animals or…** — 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, -ing form of rot (rot, rots, rotted, rotting); adjective (rotting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Rotting means going bad and breaking down, as dead plants, animals or food slowly decay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#m1)

2) Rotting wood or teeth are being slowly damaged and becoming soft or weak. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#m2)

3) (figurative) Rotting can describe something getting worse slowly from neglect, like «left rotting in a shed». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons, rotting is decomposition: bacteria, fungi and worms break down dead things and return nutrients to the soil, as in a compost heap. In everyday life rotting food smells bad and must not be eaten. Sugar can cause rotting teeth. Phrases: rotting food, rotting wood, rotting teeth, left to rot.

### examples

- The apples were rotting on the ground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#x1)
- A rotting log is home to many insects. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#x2)
- The bin smelled of rotting food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#x3)
- Worms help rotting leaves turn into soil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#x4)
- Too many sweets can lead to rotting teeth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#x5)
- The old boat was left rotting on the beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#x6)
- Rotting food should be thrown away, not eaten. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rotting/#x7)

### note

From «rot»: double the t (rotted, rotting). The adjective is «rotten». Rotting is a natural, useful process in nature, but rotting food can make you sick. Myth: «food rots only when it smells» — mould can be hidden, so check dates and look carefully.

### 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/)
- [Rotting is not only bad news.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/23-browning-apples-rotting-and-mould/6/)
- [Soil is a mix of tiny rock pieces, rotting plant and animal matter called humus, water, air and living things.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/56-soil/7/)
- [Rotting food in a landfill gives off methane, a gas that warms the planet.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/88-recycling-waste-plastic/2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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