Definition of decay in English:

decay

verb dɪˈkeɪdəˈkeɪ

[no object]

1(of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi.
the body had begun to decay
Example sentencesExamples
- The rainforests have almost no net effect on the world's oxygen levels, since decaying plant matter in the rainforests uses about as much oxygen as the rainforests produce.
- Apparently all the melted snow water had drenched the wooden beams supporting the mines, causing them to decay and fall apart, taking the ceilings with them.
- Masses of leaves may begin to decay and smother the plant beneath them.
- Considerable nitrogen, phosphorus, and some micronutrients are released from organic matter as it is oxidized or decays.
- Organic matter turns dark as it decays and so the higher the organic content of a soil, the darker its colour.
- Billy has been left with only eight back teeth and his two front incisors, which dentists say are so badly decayed they will fall out in months.
- A piece of fruit will decay far less quickly if refrigerated, than if left out in the sun.
- Organic material decays rapidly, especially in hot climes like that of Egypt, Evershed said.
- Some vegetables may decay before drying, so start with several in order to ensure that one will dry successfully.
- This is a fungus also caused by excess fish waste and food decaying in the bottom of the tank.
- When crown tissue is infected and becomes decayed, the entire plant may wilt and die.
- After all, there have been many catastrophes that destroy evidence - fossilization is a rare event because animal flesh and bones decay quickly.
- Litter in years gone by was really non existent and not the problem it is today, as packaging was simple and brown paper bags being organic quickly decayed.
- As vegetation falls to the ground, it slowly decays, providing minerals and nutrients needed for plants, animals and microorganisms.
- Aspergillus is an ubiquitous fungus found in soil, water, and decaying vegetation.
- It is formed from decomposing underground deposits of organic matter such as decaying plant material.
- They also detected organic chemicals similar to those found when bacteria decay.
- ‘Dead and decaying trees and branches are crucial to a vast range of wildlife, from birds to insects and fungi,’ he said.
- The tree was badly decayed and in 1814 it blew down.
- Several hundred million years ago, conditions of burial were such that organisms decayed to form products consisting almost entirely of carbon and hydrocarbons.
Synonyms
decompose, rot, putrefy, go bad, go off, spoil, fester, perish, deteriorate
degrade, break down, break up, moulder, shrivel, shrivel up, wither
technical mortify, necrotize, sphacelate
archaic corrupt
decomposed, decomposing, rotten, rotting, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished
mouldy, mouldering, mildewy, festering, fetid, stinking, smelly, rancid, rank
maggoty, worm-eaten, wormy, flyblown
decomposing, decomposed, rotting, rotten, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished
mouldy, mouldering, festering, fetid, stinking, smelly, rancid, rank
maggoty, worm-eaten, wormy, flyblown
1. 1.1with object Cause to rot or decompose.
  the fungus will decay soft timber
  Example sentencesExamples
  I stand to inherit a water penetration problem, caused not by my countless tea drinking, but by water decaying the roof beams in the lounge.
  It is easy for tiny amounts of food to get trapped in the tiny dents or fissures, and if you do not brush them thoroughly, bacteria can build up and start to decay the tooth.
  The council said the fungi had decayed the roots.
2. 1.2 Fall into disrepair; deteriorate.
  facilities decay when money is not spent on refurbishment
  Example sentencesExamples
  For years Blackburn's Church Street Pavilions have been allowed to crumble and decay so that the Grade ll listed buildings have become nothing more than an eyesore.
  Vancouver's derelict and decayed industrial edifices have often served as a source of inspiration for local artists.
  The government hopes that the concession will be awarded before the start of the new tourist season as the decaying state of the two facilities has been the most frequent cause for complaints from foreign tourists lately.
  The new forum needs to make clear that the government understands why so many of them live in the depressed and decaying inner cities and that ministers mean to make a direct assault on the causes of their deprivation.
  Barcelona used its Games in 1992 to implement a wide-ranging urban renewal plan, transforming a decaying industrial city into a sought-after tourist destination.
  Once constructed to ensure the safety of Bulgaria's rulers, they remain for the most part unused and neglected, decaying relics of a forgotten era.
  Businessman John Cross wanted to turn the dilapidated and decaying jetty into a shopping mall, bistro-style restaurant and a specialised apartment-style hotel.
  In fact, they are slowly decaying Western ghost towns, relics of 19th-century homesteaders and gold seekers who abandoned them decades ago.
  By registering the buildings as being ‘at risk’, English Heritage is warning the owners that the fabric is decaying.
  The people of Moora have now taken their protest to the Premier directly by gatecrashing all his public appearances and delivering him bricks from their rapidly decaying hospital.
  The Royal Hall, built as the Kursaal in 1903 to provide entertainment for Edwardian visitors to the spa, faces closure within five years because decaying concrete will make it unsafe.
  An excursion out of the capital quickly reveals signs of abject poverty, evident in massive land erosion from over-cropping and the dismal spectacle of abandoned, decaying factories.
  From that point, the property has remained uninhabited, and has slowly decayed.
  A furore over footpaths is brewing in a South Lakeland village after taxpayers learned it could be nearly 10 years before decaying routes are repaired.
  Century, published by Simon and Schuster is a magical gothic tale about a strange family living in a dark, decaying mansion where it is always dark and eternally winter.
  More than 700 decaying homes are to be demolished and rebuilt in a sweeping multi-million regeneration programme.
  Housing association properties in decaying parts of the borough are to receive a £5.3 million overhaul as Bolton Council attempts to stop the rot.
  On the downside he's noticed that the urban infrastructure has decayed immeasurably in recent years.
  A few suburbs have flourished, while the inner city has decayed and once relatively stable working class communities have deteriorated.
  The castle narrowly failed to win cash from BBC TV's Restoration competition in 2003, leading to fears that the building might decay completely.
  Synonyms
  deteriorate, degenerate, decline, go downhill, slump, slip, slide, go to rack and ruin, go to seed, run to seed, worsen, crumble, disintegrate, fall to pieces, come apart at the seams, fall into disrepair, become dilapidated
  fail, wane, ebb, dwindle, collapse
  informal go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, go down the tubes, go down the toilet
  Australian/New Zealand informal go to the pack
  declining, degenerating, dying, waning, crumbling, collapsing
  run down, broken-down, tumbledown, ramshackle, shabby, battered, decrepit
  in decline, on the decline, in ruins, in (a state of) disrepair, falling apart, falling to pieces
  informal on its last legs, on the way out
3. 1.3 Decline in quality, power, or vigour.
  the moral authority of the party was decaying
  Example sentencesExamples
  Her book seems to be about a woman trapped in two decaying relationships, one with her career and the other with her lover.
  Institutional inertia, social customs, and psychological habit ensure that systems can maintain their outer shapes long after they have begun to decay internally.
  He said people were the core of the defence capability today and in the future and if recruiting shortfalls and high loss rates were not addressed then Defence could decay to the point of irrelevance.
  Governmental authority decayed in Poland and Hungary during the early months of 1989.
  I think that some people behave in this aggressive and sadly bitter way because they live in a desperate, decaying society.
  But inevitably, a society acknowledging no transgenerational commitment to the future will decay and decline from within.
  Without the instability of the declining 18th century, as the old European order decayed, we would not have gained the French assistance decisive to our struggle for independence.
  Upon assessing his realm's decaying power, Louis XV allegedly mumbled ‘Après moi, le deluge.’
  This is another fine example of the decaying moral standards we are leaving behind for our young ones.
  Democracy under the Republic was decaying to the point at which political assassination was a commonplace.
  Now, with reduced capabilities and decayed leadership, they've turned to attacking soft targets.
  News of forthcoming private A&E departments demonstrate age-old forces of supply and demand are preparing to work their magic on Britain's flagging and decayed health service.
4. 1.4Physics (of a radioactive substance, particle, etc.) undergo change to a different form by emitting radiation.
  the trapped radiocarbon begins to decay at a known rate
  the W-particle then decays into an electron and a neutrino
  Example sentencesExamples
  When uranium decays to lead, a by-product of this process is the formation of helium, a very light, inert gas which readily escapes from rock.
  Once solidified, the lead is ‘locked ‘in place and since the uranium decays to lead, the lead-to-uranium ratio increases with time.’
  Some atoms can undergo radioactive beta decay, in which a neutron decays into a proton, an electron and an electron-antineutrino via the weak nuclear force.
  With radioactive waste, the material will eventually decay to non-radioactive materials, but this process may take thousands of years.
  The uranium eventually decays to radium and, eventually to polonium - 210, a substance that, when inhaled, can endanger tissue health and damage the immune system.
5. 1.5technical (of a physical quantity) undergo a gradual decrease.
  the time taken for the current to decay to zero
  Example sentencesExamples
  We found that fluorescence decayed with an averaged time constant of 142.8 s due to photobleaching.
  Without a power source, this current would decay.
  LD decayed relatively slowly but steadily within genes.
  The fluorescence in this pattern decays much slower and is still present 1800 ms after bolus delivery.
  Since antibody affinity is expected to stay the same even in AIDS, unlike antibody quantity which decays in advanced disease, this approach is less likely to give false recent classification.

noun dɪˈkeɪdəˈkeɪ

mass noun

1The state or process of rotting or decomposition.
hardwood is more resistant to decay than softwood
bacterial decay
Example sentencesExamples
- Children whose teeth fall out early due to decay, may not have straight adult teeth and require a dental brace.
- Bald cypress is exotic, and both woods are exceptionally decay resistant and are excellent building materials.
- When an organism dies, oxidation reactions are responsible for the decay of the organic matter.
- The feedback, clipping, and heavy crackle due to vinyl decay doesn't do much justice as far as preservation goes.
- Encased in iron or under glass, such relics were especially esteemed for their power to reverse the course of the body's eventual decay by effecting cures or allaying physical pain.
- Chewing gum increases the flow of saliva leading to a reduction in dental decay.
- Fluoride is normally added to toothpaste for the treatment of teeth to prevent decay.
- He was very much aware of the inevitability of decay and death as a part of life, an idea that Dutch artists called ‘Vanitas.’
- Most fossils are replicas of bones, teeth, shells, and other hard, mineral-based tissues that resist decay.
- There's a smell of vegetable decay.
- The rate of product decay is increasing.
- Certain of the test compounds have both prevented wood decay and killed native termite colonies.
- A late complication of neglected dental decay is a dental abscess.
- The report highlights a number of problems, including the degeneration and decay of timber in the upper sections where the tree has been previously topped and pruned.
- It is well known that bacterial decay of organic matter in sediment liberates phosphate and bone is also a potential phosphate source.
- Corn crown and root decay can weaken stalks and complicate harvest.
- The study did not find an association between secondhand smoke exposure and decay in permanent teeth.
- The most common type of tooth damage is decay, caused by a combination of poor toothbrushing and a sugary diet.
- Health authorities tell us that fluoridation is a safe and a highly effective means of preventing dental decay in children.
- Soybean debris in fields with high levels of brown spot infection should be incorporated into the soil with tillage to increase the rate of decay of these plant tissues.
Synonyms
decomposition, rotting, going bad, putrefaction, putrescence, putridity, festering, spoilage, perishing, withering, shrivelling
rot, mould, mildew, fungus
archaic corruption
rot, rotting, corrosion, corroding, decomposition
caries, cavities, holes
rare cariosity
1. 1.1 Rotten matter or tissue.
  fluoride heals small spots of decay
  Example sentencesExamples
  When the decay reaches the pulp tissue, the blood vessels, and the nerves that serve the tooth, the pain starts - an insistent throbbing.
  If you notice black sooty fungus, brown or black spots of decay on leaves or flowers, or broken discoloration on leaves or stems of your orchids, they may be harboring a fungus, bacteria or virus.
  However, too much growth produces a strain on tissues and early decay.
  There is a series of different protective proteins that can stop the bacteria adhering and growing and can reduce their ability to produce acid, and these are quite good also at repairing earlier areas of decay.
  Layers of moss and decay give a funereal quality to this weighty hall.
2. 1.2 Structural or physical deterioration.
  the old barn rapidly fell into decay
  Example sentencesExamples
  One result of increased durability is that obsolescence rather than decay will be the major reason old structures and old products are torn down and thrown away.
  The home is still empty today, and has suffered considerable interior damage, including structural decay resulting from water leaks in the building.
  When it closed the canal was seen as a dirty, decaying relic of an industrial past, and it sank into decay and dereliction.
  Over time, the plant growth not only concealed the structures; it also contributed greatly to their decay.
  Due to infrequent maintenance in recent decades, many of the city's grand structures are in terminal decay, undone by the vandalism of official apathy.
  ‘Our urban environment is in decay because of a lack of maintenance which is common across Africa,’ Adebayo said.
  Providing new facilities becomes a higher priority than maintaining the same facilities in older neighbourhoods, which also leads to decay in areas near the city centre.
  The home fell into decay by the start of the 1970s.
  For all its crumbling decay, the faded splendour, its shortages and its collapsed economy, Cuba is a vibrant and thrilling place to visit.
  Poor ventilation is a common feature that promotes mold growth and structural decay in buildings.
  Some scientists now believe that smoking may store up liability to stress and cause mental illness as well as physical decay.
  ‘There is a general feeling around the town that the park is slipping into decay,’ Comm Kiely stated.
  The health board and the staff looking after these people are doing a wonderful job in a building that is rapidly falling into decay.
  However, in recent times the walkway including the adjacent river has fallen into decay with overgrown weeds, graffiti, dumping.
  It comes less than two weeks after the worst blackout in US history, a social disaster that had its roots in the decay of the electrical transmission grid.
  Gradually the abandoned buildings fell into decay or were adopted for other uses.
  The early designers of urban-aid programs saw inner-city decay as more than just an economic matter.
  Smith fears that there are many other paintings in the collection that are in a similar state of decay - what her profession terms ‘actively deteriorating’.
  A couple of glistening new campuses mask the shocking physical decay of dozens of city schools.
  This colossal structure of iron and glass, despite the gradual decay and depletion it suffered over the 82 years of its existence, had not lost its ability to amaze.
  Synonyms
  deterioration, degeneration, debasement, degradation, decline, slipping, waning, ebb, shrinking, withering, weakening, atrophy, crumbling, disintegration, collapse, lapse, fall, failure
  formal devolution
  dated decadence
3. 1.3 The process of declining in quality, power, or vigour.
  the problems of urban decay
  Example sentencesExamples
  For Webster's audience, Italy was perceived as a site of political intrigue, economic power, decadence, and moral decay.
  ‘Together let us find solutions to moral decay by jointly developing a strategy and a programme of action,’ Masondo says.
  The Supreme Court hearing has underscored the far-reaching decay of bourgeois democracy in the US.
  Intellectual deterioration leads to political decay.
  In their wake, the giant auto concerns leave behind an industrial wasteland of mass unemployment, ruined infrastructure and social decay.
  Glass shattered on the pavement, all around are the signs of urban decay.
  Unlike Britain, Rome succumbed not to the rise of a new empire, but to internal decay and a death of a thousand cuts from various barbarian groups.
  Increased consumption has the potential to increase the number of traffic accidents, increase crime and contribute to the moral decay of the community, she said.
  It is all part of the decline and decay of our modern culture.
  Every sector of our society seems to be in moral decay.
  The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 after a long period of internal political and economic decline and decay.
  A grave economic symptom of decay was… the gradual transference of the entire economy to the ownership of stock companies…
  The goal of conservatism is to defend our civilization from decay and decadence, from a weakening of our principles.
  Both the attempted coup in Fiji and the ousting of the government in the Solomons have exposed the advanced state of decay in the state structures of these countries.
  The sense of urban decay is much more evident and the chaos of the street is not balanced but overwhelming.
  People talk a lot about cultural decay and declining values and the blame is usually placed on evil liberals.
  It is my conviction that the real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed was not economic ruin or systemic decay: it was cynicism.
  No politician is talking about ideas or programs to liberate the people from the current economic retrogression and social decay.
  Traditional societies in underdeveloped countries are no more immune to creeping moral decay than their more sophisticated cousins in rich, developed nations.
  Even some of the great multinationals that were ‘blue chips’ with investors at some point of time have been witnessing gradual decay.
4. 1.4Physics The change of a radioactive substance, particle, etc. into another by the emission of radiation.
  the gas radon is produced by the decay of uranium in rocks and soil
  count noun he developed a detector for decays of carbon-14
  Example sentencesExamples
  Plutonium does not exist in nature but results from radioactive decay of uranium - 239.
  The half-life of radioactive matter is the time before half of any given amount of nuclei will break down through alpha decay.
  Radon is present in the atmosphere because it is constantly being formed during the radioactive decay of uranium and radium.
  The radioactive decay releases energy in the form of ionising radiation.
  The principles of alpha decay are used in radioactive dating, in which half-lives play an important part.
5. 1.5technical Gradual decrease in the magnitude of a physical quantity.
  the required time constant for current decay is 1 ms
  Example sentencesExamples
  Measurements of the decay of the electrical field across the thylakoid membrane following a light - dark transition might give some clues to this.
  This is one order of magnitude slower than the decay of K in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle.
  However, once again, the declining field strength is best explained by an exponential decay of the field due to a decaying electric current.
  After linear baseline subtraction, to account for the gradual decay of the synchrotron beam intensity, two kinds of treatments were performed.
  In addition to slowing the decay of the tail currents at - 120 mV, there was a change in the relation of the second tail current to the first.

Origin

Late Middle English: from Old French decair, based on Latin decidere 'fall down or off', from de- 'from' + cadere 'fall'.

accident from Late Middle English:
An accident was originally ‘an event, something that happens’, not necessarily a mishap. It came into English via Old French, ultimately from Latin cadere, meaning ‘to fall’, which also gave us words such as cadaver (Late Middle English) ‘someone fallen’, chance, decay (Late Middle English) ‘fall away’, incident (Late Middle English) ‘fall upon’ so ‘happen’; and occasion (Late Middle English). The idea of an event ‘falling’ remains in the English word befall (Old English). Later the meaning of accident evolved into ‘something that happens by chance’, as in the phrase a happy accident. By the 17th century the modern meaning had become established in the language. The full form of the proverb accidents will happen, which dates from the early 19th century, is accidents will happen in the best-regulated families. According to Mr Micawber in Charles Dickens's David Copperfield (1850): ‘Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families; and in families not regulated by…the influence of Woman, in the lofty character of Wife, they must be expected with confidence, and must be borne with philosophy.’ See also adventure

Rhymes

affray, agley, aka, allay, Angers, A-OK, appellation contrôlée, array, assay, astray, au fait, auto-da-fé, away, aweigh, aye, bay, belay, betray, bey, Bombay, Bordet, boulevardier, bouquet, brae, bray, café au lait, Carné, cassoulet, Cathay, chassé, chevet, chez, chiné, clay, convey, Cray, crème brûlée, crudités, cuvée, cy-pres, day, deejay, dégagé, distinguée, downplay, dray, Dufay, Dushanbe, eh, embay, engagé, essay, everyday, faraway, fay, fey, flay, fray, Frey, fromage frais, gainsay, Gaye, Genet, giclee, gilet, glissé, gray, grey, halfway, hay, heigh, hey, hooray, Hubei, Hué, hurray, inveigh, jay, jeunesse dorée, José, Kay, Kaye, Klee, Kray, Lae, lay, lei, Littré, Lough Neagh, lwei, Mae, maguey, Malay, Mallarmé, Mandalay, Marseilles, may, midday, midway, mislay, misplay, Monterrey, Na-Dene, nay, né, née, neigh, Ney, noway, obey, O'Dea, okay, olé, outlay, outplay, outstay, outweigh, oyez, part-way, pay, Pei, per se, pince-nez, play, portray, pray, prey, purvey, qua, Quai d'Orsay, Rae, rangé, ray, re, reflet, relevé, roman-à-clef, Santa Fé, say, sei, Shar Pei, shay, slay, sleigh, sley, spae, spay, Spey, splay, spray, stay, straightaway, straightway, strathspey, stray, Sui, survey, sway, Taipei, Tay, they, today, tokay, Torbay, Tournai, trait, tray, trey, two-way, ukiyo-e, underlay, way, waylay, Wei, weigh, wey, Whangarei, whey, yea

Definition of decay in US English:

decay

verbdəˈkādəˈkeɪ

[no object]

1(of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi.
the body had begun to decay
Example sentencesExamples
- Organic material decays rapidly, especially in hot climes like that of Egypt, Evershed said.
- When crown tissue is infected and becomes decayed, the entire plant may wilt and die.
- Billy has been left with only eight back teeth and his two front incisors, which dentists say are so badly decayed they will fall out in months.
- Masses of leaves may begin to decay and smother the plant beneath them.
- The rainforests have almost no net effect on the world's oxygen levels, since decaying plant matter in the rainforests uses about as much oxygen as the rainforests produce.
- Several hundred million years ago, conditions of burial were such that organisms decayed to form products consisting almost entirely of carbon and hydrocarbons.
- Litter in years gone by was really non existent and not the problem it is today, as packaging was simple and brown paper bags being organic quickly decayed.
- This is a fungus also caused by excess fish waste and food decaying in the bottom of the tank.
- It is formed from decomposing underground deposits of organic matter such as decaying plant material.
- As vegetation falls to the ground, it slowly decays, providing minerals and nutrients needed for plants, animals and microorganisms.
- The tree was badly decayed and in 1814 it blew down.
- Apparently all the melted snow water had drenched the wooden beams supporting the mines, causing them to decay and fall apart, taking the ceilings with them.
- Organic matter turns dark as it decays and so the higher the organic content of a soil, the darker its colour.
- After all, there have been many catastrophes that destroy evidence - fossilization is a rare event because animal flesh and bones decay quickly.
- They also detected organic chemicals similar to those found when bacteria decay.
- Considerable nitrogen, phosphorus, and some micronutrients are released from organic matter as it is oxidized or decays.
- A piece of fruit will decay far less quickly if refrigerated, than if left out in the sun.
- Aspergillus is an ubiquitous fungus found in soil, water, and decaying vegetation.
- ‘Dead and decaying trees and branches are crucial to a vast range of wildlife, from birds to insects and fungi,’ he said.
- Some vegetables may decay before drying, so start with several in order to ensure that one will dry successfully.
Synonyms
decompose, rot, putrefy, go bad, go off, spoil, fester, perish, deteriorate
decomposed, decomposing, rotten, rotting, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished
decomposing, decomposed, rotting, rotten, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished
1. 1.1with object Cause to rot or decompose.
  the fungus will decay soft timber
  Example sentencesExamples
  It is easy for tiny amounts of food to get trapped in the tiny dents or fissures, and if you do not brush them thoroughly, bacteria can build up and start to decay the tooth.
  I stand to inherit a water penetration problem, caused not by my countless tea drinking, but by water decaying the roof beams in the lounge.
  The council said the fungi had decayed the roots.
2. 1.2 (of a building or area) fall into disrepair; deteriorate.
  urban neighborhoods decay when elevated freeways replace surface roads
  Example sentencesExamples
  The castle narrowly failed to win cash from BBC TV's Restoration competition in 2003, leading to fears that the building might decay completely.
  Once constructed to ensure the safety of Bulgaria's rulers, they remain for the most part unused and neglected, decaying relics of a forgotten era.
  The people of Moora have now taken their protest to the Premier directly by gatecrashing all his public appearances and delivering him bricks from their rapidly decaying hospital.
  Barcelona used its Games in 1992 to implement a wide-ranging urban renewal plan, transforming a decaying industrial city into a sought-after tourist destination.
  Vancouver's derelict and decayed industrial edifices have often served as a source of inspiration for local artists.
  The Royal Hall, built as the Kursaal in 1903 to provide entertainment for Edwardian visitors to the spa, faces closure within five years because decaying concrete will make it unsafe.
  More than 700 decaying homes are to be demolished and rebuilt in a sweeping multi-million regeneration programme.
  The new forum needs to make clear that the government understands why so many of them live in the depressed and decaying inner cities and that ministers mean to make a direct assault on the causes of their deprivation.
  An excursion out of the capital quickly reveals signs of abject poverty, evident in massive land erosion from over-cropping and the dismal spectacle of abandoned, decaying factories.
  Businessman John Cross wanted to turn the dilapidated and decaying jetty into a shopping mall, bistro-style restaurant and a specialised apartment-style hotel.
  Century, published by Simon and Schuster is a magical gothic tale about a strange family living in a dark, decaying mansion where it is always dark and eternally winter.
  The government hopes that the concession will be awarded before the start of the new tourist season as the decaying state of the two facilities has been the most frequent cause for complaints from foreign tourists lately.
  In fact, they are slowly decaying Western ghost towns, relics of 19th-century homesteaders and gold seekers who abandoned them decades ago.
  A furore over footpaths is brewing in a South Lakeland village after taxpayers learned it could be nearly 10 years before decaying routes are repaired.
  On the downside he's noticed that the urban infrastructure has decayed immeasurably in recent years.
  From that point, the property has remained uninhabited, and has slowly decayed.
  For years Blackburn's Church Street Pavilions have been allowed to crumble and decay so that the Grade ll listed buildings have become nothing more than an eyesore.
  A few suburbs have flourished, while the inner city has decayed and once relatively stable working class communities have deteriorated.
  By registering the buildings as being ‘at risk’, English Heritage is warning the owners that the fabric is decaying.
  Housing association properties in decaying parts of the borough are to receive a £5.3 million overhaul as Bolton Council attempts to stop the rot.
  Synonyms
  deteriorate, degenerate, decline, go downhill, slump, slip, slide, go to rack and ruin, go to seed, run to seed, worsen, crumble, disintegrate, fall to pieces, come apart at the seams, fall into disrepair, become dilapidated
  declining, degenerating, dying, waning, crumbling, collapsing
3. 1.3 Decline in quality, power, or vigor.
  the moral authority of the party was decaying
  Example sentencesExamples
  News of forthcoming private A&E departments demonstrate age-old forces of supply and demand are preparing to work their magic on Britain's flagging and decayed health service.
  Without the instability of the declining 18th century, as the old European order decayed, we would not have gained the French assistance decisive to our struggle for independence.
  But inevitably, a society acknowledging no transgenerational commitment to the future will decay and decline from within.
  Upon assessing his realm's decaying power, Louis XV allegedly mumbled ‘Après moi, le deluge.’
  Now, with reduced capabilities and decayed leadership, they've turned to attacking soft targets.
  He said people were the core of the defence capability today and in the future and if recruiting shortfalls and high loss rates were not addressed then Defence could decay to the point of irrelevance.
  This is another fine example of the decaying moral standards we are leaving behind for our young ones.
  Institutional inertia, social customs, and psychological habit ensure that systems can maintain their outer shapes long after they have begun to decay internally.
  Governmental authority decayed in Poland and Hungary during the early months of 1989.
  Democracy under the Republic was decaying to the point at which political assassination was a commonplace.
  I think that some people behave in this aggressive and sadly bitter way because they live in a desperate, decaying society.
  Her book seems to be about a woman trapped in two decaying relationships, one with her career and the other with her lover.
4. 1.4Physics (of a radioactive substance, particle, etc.) undergo change to a different form by emitting radiation.
  the trapped radiocarbon begins to decay at a known rate
  Example sentencesExamples
  With radioactive waste, the material will eventually decay to non-radioactive materials, but this process may take thousands of years.
  Once solidified, the lead is ‘locked ‘in place and since the uranium decays to lead, the lead-to-uranium ratio increases with time.’
  The uranium eventually decays to radium and, eventually to polonium - 210, a substance that, when inhaled, can endanger tissue health and damage the immune system.
  Some atoms can undergo radioactive beta decay, in which a neutron decays into a proton, an electron and an electron-antineutrino via the weak nuclear force.
  When uranium decays to lead, a by-product of this process is the formation of helium, a very light, inert gas which readily escapes from rock.
5. 1.5technical (of a physical quantity) undergo a gradual decrease.
  the time taken for the current to decay to zero
  Example sentencesExamples
  The fluorescence in this pattern decays much slower and is still present 1800 ms after bolus delivery.
  LD decayed relatively slowly but steadily within genes.
  We found that fluorescence decayed with an averaged time constant of 142.8 s due to photobleaching.
  Since antibody affinity is expected to stay the same even in AIDS, unlike antibody quantity which decays in advanced disease, this approach is less likely to give false recent classification.
  Without a power source, this current would decay.

noundəˈkādəˈkeɪ

1The state or process of rotting or decomposition.
hardwood is more resistant to decay than softwood
bacterial decay
Example sentencesExamples
- The report highlights a number of problems, including the degeneration and decay of timber in the upper sections where the tree has been previously topped and pruned.
- The most common type of tooth damage is decay, caused by a combination of poor toothbrushing and a sugary diet.
- Corn crown and root decay can weaken stalks and complicate harvest.
- A late complication of neglected dental decay is a dental abscess.
- Chewing gum increases the flow of saliva leading to a reduction in dental decay.
- Health authorities tell us that fluoridation is a safe and a highly effective means of preventing dental decay in children.
- Most fossils are replicas of bones, teeth, shells, and other hard, mineral-based tissues that resist decay.
- Children whose teeth fall out early due to decay, may not have straight adult teeth and require a dental brace.
- The rate of product decay is increasing.
- When an organism dies, oxidation reactions are responsible for the decay of the organic matter.
- The study did not find an association between secondhand smoke exposure and decay in permanent teeth.
- He was very much aware of the inevitability of decay and death as a part of life, an idea that Dutch artists called ‘Vanitas.’
- It is well known that bacterial decay of organic matter in sediment liberates phosphate and bone is also a potential phosphate source.
- There's a smell of vegetable decay.
- Bald cypress is exotic, and both woods are exceptionally decay resistant and are excellent building materials.
- The feedback, clipping, and heavy crackle due to vinyl decay doesn't do much justice as far as preservation goes.
- Encased in iron or under glass, such relics were especially esteemed for their power to reverse the course of the body's eventual decay by effecting cures or allaying physical pain.
- Fluoride is normally added to toothpaste for the treatment of teeth to prevent decay.
- Certain of the test compounds have both prevented wood decay and killed native termite colonies.
- Soybean debris in fields with high levels of brown spot infection should be incorporated into the soil with tillage to increase the rate of decay of these plant tissues.
Synonyms
decomposition, rotting, going bad, putrefaction, putrescence, putridity, festering, spoilage, perishing, withering, shrivelling
rot, rotting, corrosion, corroding, decomposition
1. 1.1 Rotten matter or tissue.
  fluoride heals small spots of decay
  Example sentencesExamples
  There is a series of different protective proteins that can stop the bacteria adhering and growing and can reduce their ability to produce acid, and these are quite good also at repairing earlier areas of decay.
  When the decay reaches the pulp tissue, the blood vessels, and the nerves that serve the tooth, the pain starts - an insistent throbbing.
  Layers of moss and decay give a funereal quality to this weighty hall.
  If you notice black sooty fungus, brown or black spots of decay on leaves or flowers, or broken discoloration on leaves or stems of your orchids, they may be harboring a fungus, bacteria or virus.
  However, too much growth produces a strain on tissues and early decay.
2. 1.2 Structural or physical deterioration.
  the old barn rapidly fell into decay
  Example sentencesExamples
  Over time, the plant growth not only concealed the structures; it also contributed greatly to their decay.
  The home is still empty today, and has suffered considerable interior damage, including structural decay resulting from water leaks in the building.
  One result of increased durability is that obsolescence rather than decay will be the major reason old structures and old products are torn down and thrown away.
  Providing new facilities becomes a higher priority than maintaining the same facilities in older neighbourhoods, which also leads to decay in areas near the city centre.
  Due to infrequent maintenance in recent decades, many of the city's grand structures are in terminal decay, undone by the vandalism of official apathy.
  Gradually the abandoned buildings fell into decay or were adopted for other uses.
  The home fell into decay by the start of the 1970s.
  It comes less than two weeks after the worst blackout in US history, a social disaster that had its roots in the decay of the electrical transmission grid.
  The health board and the staff looking after these people are doing a wonderful job in a building that is rapidly falling into decay.
  ‘Our urban environment is in decay because of a lack of maintenance which is common across Africa,’ Adebayo said.
  Smith fears that there are many other paintings in the collection that are in a similar state of decay - what her profession terms ‘actively deteriorating’.
  Poor ventilation is a common feature that promotes mold growth and structural decay in buildings.
  The early designers of urban-aid programs saw inner-city decay as more than just an economic matter.
  A couple of glistening new campuses mask the shocking physical decay of dozens of city schools.
  However, in recent times the walkway including the adjacent river has fallen into decay with overgrown weeds, graffiti, dumping.
  ‘There is a general feeling around the town that the park is slipping into decay,’ Comm Kiely stated.
  When it closed the canal was seen as a dirty, decaying relic of an industrial past, and it sank into decay and dereliction.
  Some scientists now believe that smoking may store up liability to stress and cause mental illness as well as physical decay.
  For all its crumbling decay, the faded splendour, its shortages and its collapsed economy, Cuba is a vibrant and thrilling place to visit.
  This colossal structure of iron and glass, despite the gradual decay and depletion it suffered over the 82 years of its existence, had not lost its ability to amaze.
  Synonyms
  deterioration, degeneration, debasement, degradation, decline, slipping, waning, ebb, shrinking, withering, weakening, atrophy, crumbling, disintegration, collapse, lapse, fall, failure
3. 1.3 The process of declining in quality, power, or vigor.
  preachers warning of moral decay
  Example sentencesExamples
  Intellectual deterioration leads to political decay.
  Increased consumption has the potential to increase the number of traffic accidents, increase crime and contribute to the moral decay of the community, she said.
  The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 after a long period of internal political and economic decline and decay.
  For Webster's audience, Italy was perceived as a site of political intrigue, economic power, decadence, and moral decay.
  Glass shattered on the pavement, all around are the signs of urban decay.
  Even some of the great multinationals that were ‘blue chips’ with investors at some point of time have been witnessing gradual decay.
  Unlike Britain, Rome succumbed not to the rise of a new empire, but to internal decay and a death of a thousand cuts from various barbarian groups.
  No politician is talking about ideas or programs to liberate the people from the current economic retrogression and social decay.
  People talk a lot about cultural decay and declining values and the blame is usually placed on evil liberals.
  Every sector of our society seems to be in moral decay.
  The sense of urban decay is much more evident and the chaos of the street is not balanced but overwhelming.
  ‘Together let us find solutions to moral decay by jointly developing a strategy and a programme of action,’ Masondo says.
  It is all part of the decline and decay of our modern culture.
  The Supreme Court hearing has underscored the far-reaching decay of bourgeois democracy in the US.
  A grave economic symptom of decay was… the gradual transference of the entire economy to the ownership of stock companies…
  Traditional societies in underdeveloped countries are no more immune to creeping moral decay than their more sophisticated cousins in rich, developed nations.
  The goal of conservatism is to defend our civilization from decay and decadence, from a weakening of our principles.
  It is my conviction that the real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed was not economic ruin or systemic decay: it was cynicism.
  Both the attempted coup in Fiji and the ousting of the government in the Solomons have exposed the advanced state of decay in the state structures of these countries.
  In their wake, the giant auto concerns leave behind an industrial wasteland of mass unemployment, ruined infrastructure and social decay.
4. 1.4Physics The change of a radioactive substance, particle, etc. into another by the emission of radiation.
  the gas radon is produced by the decay of uranium in rocks and soil
  Example sentencesExamples
  The principles of alpha decay are used in radioactive dating, in which half-lives play an important part.
  The radioactive decay releases energy in the form of ionising radiation.
  Plutonium does not exist in nature but results from radioactive decay of uranium - 239.
  Radon is present in the atmosphere because it is constantly being formed during the radioactive decay of uranium and radium.
  The half-life of radioactive matter is the time before half of any given amount of nuclei will break down through alpha decay.
5. 1.5technical Gradual decrease in the magnitude of a physical quantity.
  the decay of electrical fields in the electromagnets
  Example sentencesExamples
  In addition to slowing the decay of the tail currents at - 120 mV, there was a change in the relation of the second tail current to the first.
  This is one order of magnitude slower than the decay of K in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle.
  However, once again, the declining field strength is best explained by an exponential decay of the field due to a decaying electric current.
  After linear baseline subtraction, to account for the gradual decay of the synchrotron beam intensity, two kinds of treatments were performed.
  Measurements of the decay of the electrical field across the thylakoid membrane following a light - dark transition might give some clues to this.

Origin

Late Middle English: from Old French decair, based on Latin decidere ‘fall down or off’, from de- ‘from’ + cadere ‘fall’.

单词	decay
释义	Definition of decay in English: decay verb dɪˈkeɪdəˈkeɪ [no object] 1(of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi. the body had begun to decay Example sentencesExamples The rainforests have almost no net effect on the world's oxygen levels, since decaying plant matter in the rainforests uses about as much oxygen as the rainforests produce. Apparently all the melted snow water had drenched the wooden beams supporting the mines, causing them to decay and fall apart, taking the ceilings with them. Masses of leaves may begin to decay and smother the plant beneath them. Considerable nitrogen, phosphorus, and some micronutrients are released from organic matter as it is oxidized or decays. Organic matter turns dark as it decays and so the higher the organic content of a soil, the darker its colour. Billy has been left with only eight back teeth and his two front incisors, which dentists say are so badly decayed they will fall out in months. A piece of fruit will decay far less quickly if refrigerated, than if left out in the sun. Organic material decays rapidly, especially in hot climes like that of Egypt, Evershed said. Some vegetables may decay before drying, so start with several in order to ensure that one will dry successfully. This is a fungus also caused by excess fish waste and food decaying in the bottom of the tank. When crown tissue is infected and becomes decayed, the entire plant may wilt and die. After all, there have been many catastrophes that destroy evidence - fossilization is a rare event because animal flesh and bones decay quickly. Litter in years gone by was really non existent and not the problem it is today, as packaging was simple and brown paper bags being organic quickly decayed. As vegetation falls to the ground, it slowly decays, providing minerals and nutrients needed for plants, animals and microorganisms. Aspergillus is an ubiquitous fungus found in soil, water, and decaying vegetation. It is formed from decomposing underground deposits of organic matter such as decaying plant material. They also detected organic chemicals similar to those found when bacteria decay. ‘Dead and decaying trees and branches are crucial to a vast range of wildlife, from birds to insects and fungi,’ he said. The tree was badly decayed and in 1814 it blew down. Several hundred million years ago, conditions of burial were such that organisms decayed to form products consisting almost entirely of carbon and hydrocarbons. Synonyms decompose, rot, putrefy, go bad, go off, spoil, fester, perish, deteriorate degrade, break down, break up, moulder, shrivel, shrivel up, wither technical mortify, necrotize, sphacelate archaic corrupt decomposed, decomposing, rotten, rotting, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished mouldy, mouldering, mildewy, festering, fetid, stinking, smelly, rancid, rank maggoty, worm-eaten, wormy, flyblown decomposing, decomposed, rotting, rotten, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished mouldy, mouldering, festering, fetid, stinking, smelly, rancid, rank maggoty, worm-eaten, wormy, flyblown 1.1with object Cause to rot or decompose. the fungus will decay soft timber Example sentencesExamples I stand to inherit a water penetration problem, caused not by my countless tea drinking, but by water decaying the roof beams in the lounge. It is easy for tiny amounts of food to get trapped in the tiny dents or fissures, and if you do not brush them thoroughly, bacteria can build up and start to decay the tooth. The council said the fungi had decayed the roots. 1.2 Fall into disrepair; deteriorate. facilities decay when money is not spent on refurbishment Example sentencesExamples For years Blackburn's Church Street Pavilions have been allowed to crumble and decay so that the Grade ll listed buildings have become nothing more than an eyesore. Vancouver's derelict and decayed industrial edifices have often served as a source of inspiration for local artists. The government hopes that the concession will be awarded before the start of the new tourist season as the decaying state of the two facilities has been the most frequent cause for complaints from foreign tourists lately. The new forum needs to make clear that the government understands why so many of them live in the depressed and decaying inner cities and that ministers mean to make a direct assault on the causes of their deprivation. Barcelona used its Games in 1992 to implement a wide-ranging urban renewal plan, transforming a decaying industrial city into a sought-after tourist destination. Once constructed to ensure the safety of Bulgaria's rulers, they remain for the most part unused and neglected, decaying relics of a forgotten era. Businessman John Cross wanted to turn the dilapidated and decaying jetty into a shopping mall, bistro-style restaurant and a specialised apartment-style hotel. In fact, they are slowly decaying Western ghost towns, relics of 19th-century homesteaders and gold seekers who abandoned them decades ago. By registering the buildings as being ‘at risk’, English Heritage is warning the owners that the fabric is decaying. The people of Moora have now taken their protest to the Premier directly by gatecrashing all his public appearances and delivering him bricks from their rapidly decaying hospital. The Royal Hall, built as the Kursaal in 1903 to provide entertainment for Edwardian visitors to the spa, faces closure within five years because decaying concrete will make it unsafe. An excursion out of the capital quickly reveals signs of abject poverty, evident in massive land erosion from over-cropping and the dismal spectacle of abandoned, decaying factories. From that point, the property has remained uninhabited, and has slowly decayed. A furore over footpaths is brewing in a South Lakeland village after taxpayers learned it could be nearly 10 years before decaying routes are repaired. Century, published by Simon and Schuster is a magical gothic tale about a strange family living in a dark, decaying mansion where it is always dark and eternally winter. More than 700 decaying homes are to be demolished and rebuilt in a sweeping multi-million regeneration programme. Housing association properties in decaying parts of the borough are to receive a £5.3 million overhaul as Bolton Council attempts to stop the rot. On the downside he's noticed that the urban infrastructure has decayed immeasurably in recent years. A few suburbs have flourished, while the inner city has decayed and once relatively stable working class communities have deteriorated. The castle narrowly failed to win cash from BBC TV's Restoration competition in 2003, leading to fears that the building might decay completely. Synonyms deteriorate, degenerate, decline, go downhill, slump, slip, slide, go to rack and ruin, go to seed, run to seed, worsen, crumble, disintegrate, fall to pieces, come apart at the seams, fall into disrepair, become dilapidated fail, wane, ebb, dwindle, collapse informal go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, go down the tubes, go down the toilet Australian/New Zealand informal go to the pack declining, degenerating, dying, waning, crumbling, collapsing run down, broken-down, tumbledown, ramshackle, shabby, battered, decrepit in decline, on the decline, in ruins, in (a state of) disrepair, falling apart, falling to pieces informal on its last legs, on the way out 1.3 Decline in quality, power, or vigour. the moral authority of the party was decaying Example sentencesExamples Her book seems to be about a woman trapped in two decaying relationships, one with her career and the other with her lover. Institutional inertia, social customs, and psychological habit ensure that systems can maintain their outer shapes long after they have begun to decay internally. He said people were the core of the defence capability today and in the future and if recruiting shortfalls and high loss rates were not addressed then Defence could decay to the point of irrelevance. Governmental authority decayed in Poland and Hungary during the early months of 1989. I think that some people behave in this aggressive and sadly bitter way because they live in a desperate, decaying society. But inevitably, a society acknowledging no transgenerational commitment to the future will decay and decline from within. Without the instability of the declining 18th century, as the old European order decayed, we would not have gained the French assistance decisive to our struggle for independence. Upon assessing his realm's decaying power, Louis XV allegedly mumbled ‘Après moi, le deluge.’ This is another fine example of the decaying moral standards we are leaving behind for our young ones. Democracy under the Republic was decaying to the point at which political assassination was a commonplace. Now, with reduced capabilities and decayed leadership, they've turned to attacking soft targets. News of forthcoming private A&E departments demonstrate age-old forces of supply and demand are preparing to work their magic on Britain's flagging and decayed health service. 1.4Physics (of a radioactive substance, particle, etc.) undergo change to a different form by emitting radiation. the trapped radiocarbon begins to decay at a known rate the W-particle then decays into an electron and a neutrino Example sentencesExamples When uranium decays to lead, a by-product of this process is the formation of helium, a very light, inert gas which readily escapes from rock. Once solidified, the lead is ‘locked ‘in place and since the uranium decays to lead, the lead-to-uranium ratio increases with time.’ Some atoms can undergo radioactive beta decay, in which a neutron decays into a proton, an electron and an electron-antineutrino via the weak nuclear force. With radioactive waste, the material will eventually decay to non-radioactive materials, but this process may take thousands of years. The uranium eventually decays to radium and, eventually to polonium - 210, a substance that, when inhaled, can endanger tissue health and damage the immune system. 1.5technical (of a physical quantity) undergo a gradual decrease. the time taken for the current to decay to zero Example sentencesExamples We found that fluorescence decayed with an averaged time constant of 142.8 s due to photobleaching. Without a power source, this current would decay. LD decayed relatively slowly but steadily within genes. The fluorescence in this pattern decays much slower and is still present 1800 ms after bolus delivery. Since antibody affinity is expected to stay the same even in AIDS, unlike antibody quantity which decays in advanced disease, this approach is less likely to give false recent classification. noun dɪˈkeɪdəˈkeɪ mass noun 1The state or process of rotting or decomposition. hardwood is more resistant to decay than softwood bacterial decay Example sentencesExamples Children whose teeth fall out early due to decay, may not have straight adult teeth and require a dental brace. Bald cypress is exotic, and both woods are exceptionally decay resistant and are excellent building materials. When an organism dies, oxidation reactions are responsible for the decay of the organic matter. The feedback, clipping, and heavy crackle due to vinyl decay doesn't do much justice as far as preservation goes. Encased in iron or under glass, such relics were especially esteemed for their power to reverse the course of the body's eventual decay by effecting cures or allaying physical pain. Chewing gum increases the flow of saliva leading to a reduction in dental decay. Fluoride is normally added to toothpaste for the treatment of teeth to prevent decay. He was very much aware of the inevitability of decay and death as a part of life, an idea that Dutch artists called ‘Vanitas.’ Most fossils are replicas of bones, teeth, shells, and other hard, mineral-based tissues that resist decay. There's a smell of vegetable decay. The rate of product decay is increasing. Certain of the test compounds have both prevented wood decay and killed native termite colonies. A late complication of neglected dental decay is a dental abscess. The report highlights a number of problems, including the degeneration and decay of timber in the upper sections where the tree has been previously topped and pruned. It is well known that bacterial decay of organic matter in sediment liberates phosphate and bone is also a potential phosphate source. Corn crown and root decay can weaken stalks and complicate harvest. The study did not find an association between secondhand smoke exposure and decay in permanent teeth. The most common type of tooth damage is decay, caused by a combination of poor toothbrushing and a sugary diet. Health authorities tell us that fluoridation is a safe and a highly effective means of preventing dental decay in children. Soybean debris in fields with high levels of brown spot infection should be incorporated into the soil with tillage to increase the rate of decay of these plant tissues. Synonyms decomposition, rotting, going bad, putrefaction, putrescence, putridity, festering, spoilage, perishing, withering, shrivelling rot, mould, mildew, fungus archaic corruption rot, rotting, corrosion, corroding, decomposition caries, cavities, holes rare cariosity 1.1 Rotten matter or tissue. fluoride heals small spots of decay Example sentencesExamples When the decay reaches the pulp tissue, the blood vessels, and the nerves that serve the tooth, the pain starts - an insistent throbbing. If you notice black sooty fungus, brown or black spots of decay on leaves or flowers, or broken discoloration on leaves or stems of your orchids, they may be harboring a fungus, bacteria or virus. However, too much growth produces a strain on tissues and early decay. There is a series of different protective proteins that can stop the bacteria adhering and growing and can reduce their ability to produce acid, and these are quite good also at repairing earlier areas of decay. Layers of moss and decay give a funereal quality to this weighty hall. 1.2 Structural or physical deterioration. the old barn rapidly fell into decay Example sentencesExamples One result of increased durability is that obsolescence rather than decay will be the major reason old structures and old products are torn down and thrown away. The home is still empty today, and has suffered considerable interior damage, including structural decay resulting from water leaks in the building. When it closed the canal was seen as a dirty, decaying relic of an industrial past, and it sank into decay and dereliction. Over time, the plant growth not only concealed the structures; it also contributed greatly to their decay. Due to infrequent maintenance in recent decades, many of the city's grand structures are in terminal decay, undone by the vandalism of official apathy. ‘Our urban environment is in decay because of a lack of maintenance which is common across Africa,’ Adebayo said. Providing new facilities becomes a higher priority than maintaining the same facilities in older neighbourhoods, which also leads to decay in areas near the city centre. The home fell into decay by the start of the 1970s. For all its crumbling decay, the faded splendour, its shortages and its collapsed economy, Cuba is a vibrant and thrilling place to visit. Poor ventilation is a common feature that promotes mold growth and structural decay in buildings. Some scientists now believe that smoking may store up liability to stress and cause mental illness as well as physical decay. ‘There is a general feeling around the town that the park is slipping into decay,’ Comm Kiely stated. The health board and the staff looking after these people are doing a wonderful job in a building that is rapidly falling into decay. However, in recent times the walkway including the adjacent river has fallen into decay with overgrown weeds, graffiti, dumping. It comes less than two weeks after the worst blackout in US history, a social disaster that had its roots in the decay of the electrical transmission grid. Gradually the abandoned buildings fell into decay or were adopted for other uses. The early designers of urban-aid programs saw inner-city decay as more than just an economic matter. Smith fears that there are many other paintings in the collection that are in a similar state of decay - what her profession terms ‘actively deteriorating’. A couple of glistening new campuses mask the shocking physical decay of dozens of city schools. This colossal structure of iron and glass, despite the gradual decay and depletion it suffered over the 82 years of its existence, had not lost its ability to amaze. Synonyms deterioration, degeneration, debasement, degradation, decline, slipping, waning, ebb, shrinking, withering, weakening, atrophy, crumbling, disintegration, collapse, lapse, fall, failure formal devolution dated decadence 1.3 The process of declining in quality, power, or vigour. the problems of urban decay Example sentencesExamples For Webster's audience, Italy was perceived as a site of political intrigue, economic power, decadence, and moral decay. ‘Together let us find solutions to moral decay by jointly developing a strategy and a programme of action,’ Masondo says. The Supreme Court hearing has underscored the far-reaching decay of bourgeois democracy in the US. Intellectual deterioration leads to political decay. In their wake, the giant auto concerns leave behind an industrial wasteland of mass unemployment, ruined infrastructure and social decay. Glass shattered on the pavement, all around are the signs of urban decay. Unlike Britain, Rome succumbed not to the rise of a new empire, but to internal decay and a death of a thousand cuts from various barbarian groups. Increased consumption has the potential to increase the number of traffic accidents, increase crime and contribute to the moral decay of the community, she said. It is all part of the decline and decay of our modern culture. Every sector of our society seems to be in moral decay. The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 after a long period of internal political and economic decline and decay. A grave economic symptom of decay was… the gradual transference of the entire economy to the ownership of stock companies… The goal of conservatism is to defend our civilization from decay and decadence, from a weakening of our principles. Both the attempted coup in Fiji and the ousting of the government in the Solomons have exposed the advanced state of decay in the state structures of these countries. The sense of urban decay is much more evident and the chaos of the street is not balanced but overwhelming. People talk a lot about cultural decay and declining values and the blame is usually placed on evil liberals. It is my conviction that the real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed was not economic ruin or systemic decay: it was cynicism. No politician is talking about ideas or programs to liberate the people from the current economic retrogression and social decay. Traditional societies in underdeveloped countries are no more immune to creeping moral decay than their more sophisticated cousins in rich, developed nations. Even some of the great multinationals that were ‘blue chips’ with investors at some point of time have been witnessing gradual decay. 1.4Physics The change of a radioactive substance, particle, etc. into another by the emission of radiation. the gas radon is produced by the decay of uranium in rocks and soil count noun he developed a detector for decays of carbon-14 Example sentencesExamples Plutonium does not exist in nature but results from radioactive decay of uranium - 239. The half-life of radioactive matter is the time before half of any given amount of nuclei will break down through alpha decay. Radon is present in the atmosphere because it is constantly being formed during the radioactive decay of uranium and radium. The radioactive decay releases energy in the form of ionising radiation. The principles of alpha decay are used in radioactive dating, in which half-lives play an important part. 1.5technical Gradual decrease in the magnitude of a physical quantity. the required time constant for current decay is 1 ms Example sentencesExamples Measurements of the decay of the electrical field across the thylakoid membrane following a light - dark transition might give some clues to this. This is one order of magnitude slower than the decay of K in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle. However, once again, the declining field strength is best explained by an exponential decay of the field due to a decaying electric current. After linear baseline subtraction, to account for the gradual decay of the synchrotron beam intensity, two kinds of treatments were performed. In addition to slowing the decay of the tail currents at - 120 mV, there was a change in the relation of the second tail current to the first. Origin Late Middle English: from Old French decair, based on Latin decidere 'fall down or off', from de- 'from' + cadere 'fall'. accident from Late Middle English: An accident was originally ‘an event, something that happens’, not necessarily a mishap. It came into English via Old French, ultimately from Latin cadere, meaning ‘to fall’, which also gave us words such as cadaver (Late Middle English) ‘someone fallen’, chance, decay (Late Middle English) ‘fall away’, incident (Late Middle English) ‘fall upon’ so ‘happen’; and occasion (Late Middle English). The idea of an event ‘falling’ remains in the English word befall (Old English). Later the meaning of accident evolved into ‘something that happens by chance’, as in the phrase a happy accident. By the 17th century the modern meaning had become established in the language. The full form of the proverb accidents will happen, which dates from the early 19th century, is accidents will happen in the best-regulated families. According to Mr Micawber in Charles Dickens's David Copperfield (1850): ‘Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families; and in families not regulated by…the influence of Woman, in the lofty character of Wife, they must be expected with confidence, and must be borne with philosophy.’ See also adventure Rhymes affray, agley, aka, allay, Angers, A-OK, appellation contrôlée, array, assay, astray, au fait, auto-da-fé, away, aweigh, aye, bay, belay, betray, bey, Bombay, Bordet, boulevardier, bouquet, brae, bray, café au lait, Carné, cassoulet, Cathay, chassé, chevet, chez, chiné, clay, convey, Cray, crème brûlée, crudités, cuvée, cy-pres, day, deejay, dégagé, distinguée, downplay, dray, Dufay, Dushanbe, eh, embay, engagé, essay, everyday, faraway, fay, fey, flay, fray, Frey, fromage frais, gainsay, Gaye, Genet, giclee, gilet, glissé, gray, grey, halfway, hay, heigh, hey, hooray, Hubei, Hué, hurray, inveigh, jay, jeunesse dorée, José, Kay, Kaye, Klee, Kray, Lae, lay, lei, Littré, Lough Neagh, lwei, Mae, maguey, Malay, Mallarmé, Mandalay, Marseilles, may, midday, midway, mislay, misplay, Monterrey, Na-Dene, nay, né, née, neigh, Ney, noway, obey, O'Dea, okay, olé, outlay, outplay, outstay, outweigh, oyez, part-way, pay, Pei, per se, pince-nez, play, portray, pray, prey, purvey, qua, Quai d'Orsay, Rae, rangé, ray, re, reflet, relevé, roman-à-clef, Santa Fé, say, sei, Shar Pei, shay, slay, sleigh, sley, spae, spay, Spey, splay, spray, stay, straightaway, straightway, strathspey, stray, Sui, survey, sway, Taipei, Tay, they, today, tokay, Torbay, Tournai, trait, tray, trey, two-way, ukiyo-e, underlay, way, waylay, Wei, weigh, wey, Whangarei, whey, yea Definition of decay in US English: decay verbdəˈkādəˈkeɪ [no object] 1(of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi. the body had begun to decay Example sentencesExamples Organic material decays rapidly, especially in hot climes like that of Egypt, Evershed said. When crown tissue is infected and becomes decayed, the entire plant may wilt and die. Billy has been left with only eight back teeth and his two front incisors, which dentists say are so badly decayed they will fall out in months. Masses of leaves may begin to decay and smother the plant beneath them. The rainforests have almost no net effect on the world's oxygen levels, since decaying plant matter in the rainforests uses about as much oxygen as the rainforests produce. Several hundred million years ago, conditions of burial were such that organisms decayed to form products consisting almost entirely of carbon and hydrocarbons. Litter in years gone by was really non existent and not the problem it is today, as packaging was simple and brown paper bags being organic quickly decayed. This is a fungus also caused by excess fish waste and food decaying in the bottom of the tank. It is formed from decomposing underground deposits of organic matter such as decaying plant material. As vegetation falls to the ground, it slowly decays, providing minerals and nutrients needed for plants, animals and microorganisms. The tree was badly decayed and in 1814 it blew down. Apparently all the melted snow water had drenched the wooden beams supporting the mines, causing them to decay and fall apart, taking the ceilings with them. Organic matter turns dark as it decays and so the higher the organic content of a soil, the darker its colour. After all, there have been many catastrophes that destroy evidence - fossilization is a rare event because animal flesh and bones decay quickly. They also detected organic chemicals similar to those found when bacteria decay. Considerable nitrogen, phosphorus, and some micronutrients are released from organic matter as it is oxidized or decays. A piece of fruit will decay far less quickly if refrigerated, than if left out in the sun. Aspergillus is an ubiquitous fungus found in soil, water, and decaying vegetation. ‘Dead and decaying trees and branches are crucial to a vast range of wildlife, from birds to insects and fungi,’ he said. Some vegetables may decay before drying, so start with several in order to ensure that one will dry successfully. Synonyms decompose, rot, putrefy, go bad, go off, spoil, fester, perish, deteriorate decomposed, decomposing, rotten, rotting, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished decomposing, decomposed, rotting, rotten, putrescent, putrid, bad, off, spoiled, spoilt, perished 1.1with object Cause to rot or decompose. the fungus will decay soft timber Example sentencesExamples It is easy for tiny amounts of food to get trapped in the tiny dents or fissures, and if you do not brush them thoroughly, bacteria can build up and start to decay the tooth. I stand to inherit a water penetration problem, caused not by my countless tea drinking, but by water decaying the roof beams in the lounge. The council said the fungi had decayed the roots. 1.2 (of a building or area) fall into disrepair; deteriorate. urban neighborhoods decay when elevated freeways replace surface roads Example sentencesExamples The castle narrowly failed to win cash from BBC TV's Restoration competition in 2003, leading to fears that the building might decay completely. Once constructed to ensure the safety of Bulgaria's rulers, they remain for the most part unused and neglected, decaying relics of a forgotten era. The people of Moora have now taken their protest to the Premier directly by gatecrashing all his public appearances and delivering him bricks from their rapidly decaying hospital. Barcelona used its Games in 1992 to implement a wide-ranging urban renewal plan, transforming a decaying industrial city into a sought-after tourist destination. Vancouver's derelict and decayed industrial edifices have often served as a source of inspiration for local artists. The Royal Hall, built as the Kursaal in 1903 to provide entertainment for Edwardian visitors to the spa, faces closure within five years because decaying concrete will make it unsafe. More than 700 decaying homes are to be demolished and rebuilt in a sweeping multi-million regeneration programme. The new forum needs to make clear that the government understands why so many of them live in the depressed and decaying inner cities and that ministers mean to make a direct assault on the causes of their deprivation. An excursion out of the capital quickly reveals signs of abject poverty, evident in massive land erosion from over-cropping and the dismal spectacle of abandoned, decaying factories. Businessman John Cross wanted to turn the dilapidated and decaying jetty into a shopping mall, bistro-style restaurant and a specialised apartment-style hotel. Century, published by Simon and Schuster is a magical gothic tale about a strange family living in a dark, decaying mansion where it is always dark and eternally winter. The government hopes that the concession will be awarded before the start of the new tourist season as the decaying state of the two facilities has been the most frequent cause for complaints from foreign tourists lately. In fact, they are slowly decaying Western ghost towns, relics of 19th-century homesteaders and gold seekers who abandoned them decades ago. A furore over footpaths is brewing in a South Lakeland village after taxpayers learned it could be nearly 10 years before decaying routes are repaired. On the downside he's noticed that the urban infrastructure has decayed immeasurably in recent years. From that point, the property has remained uninhabited, and has slowly decayed. For years Blackburn's Church Street Pavilions have been allowed to crumble and decay so that the Grade ll listed buildings have become nothing more than an eyesore. A few suburbs have flourished, while the inner city has decayed and once relatively stable working class communities have deteriorated. By registering the buildings as being ‘at risk’, English Heritage is warning the owners that the fabric is decaying. Housing association properties in decaying parts of the borough are to receive a £5.3 million overhaul as Bolton Council attempts to stop the rot. Synonyms deteriorate, degenerate, decline, go downhill, slump, slip, slide, go to rack and ruin, go to seed, run to seed, worsen, crumble, disintegrate, fall to pieces, come apart at the seams, fall into disrepair, become dilapidated declining, degenerating, dying, waning, crumbling, collapsing 1.3 Decline in quality, power, or vigor. the moral authority of the party was decaying Example sentencesExamples News of forthcoming private A&E departments demonstrate age-old forces of supply and demand are preparing to work their magic on Britain's flagging and decayed health service. Without the instability of the declining 18th century, as the old European order decayed, we would not have gained the French assistance decisive to our struggle for independence. But inevitably, a society acknowledging no transgenerational commitment to the future will decay and decline from within. Upon assessing his realm's decaying power, Louis XV allegedly mumbled ‘Après moi, le deluge.’ Now, with reduced capabilities and decayed leadership, they've turned to attacking soft targets. He said people were the core of the defence capability today and in the future and if recruiting shortfalls and high loss rates were not addressed then Defence could decay to the point of irrelevance. This is another fine example of the decaying moral standards we are leaving behind for our young ones. Institutional inertia, social customs, and psychological habit ensure that systems can maintain their outer shapes long after they have begun to decay internally. Governmental authority decayed in Poland and Hungary during the early months of 1989. Democracy under the Republic was decaying to the point at which political assassination was a commonplace. I think that some people behave in this aggressive and sadly bitter way because they live in a desperate, decaying society. Her book seems to be about a woman trapped in two decaying relationships, one with her career and the other with her lover. 1.4Physics (of a radioactive substance, particle, etc.) undergo change to a different form by emitting radiation. the trapped radiocarbon begins to decay at a known rate Example sentencesExamples With radioactive waste, the material will eventually decay to non-radioactive materials, but this process may take thousands of years. Once solidified, the lead is ‘locked ‘in place and since the uranium decays to lead, the lead-to-uranium ratio increases with time.’ The uranium eventually decays to radium and, eventually to polonium - 210, a substance that, when inhaled, can endanger tissue health and damage the immune system. Some atoms can undergo radioactive beta decay, in which a neutron decays into a proton, an electron and an electron-antineutrino via the weak nuclear force. When uranium decays to lead, a by-product of this process is the formation of helium, a very light, inert gas which readily escapes from rock. 1.5technical (of a physical quantity) undergo a gradual decrease. the time taken for the current to decay to zero Example sentencesExamples The fluorescence in this pattern decays much slower and is still present 1800 ms after bolus delivery. LD decayed relatively slowly but steadily within genes. We found that fluorescence decayed with an averaged time constant of 142.8 s due to photobleaching. Since antibody affinity is expected to stay the same even in AIDS, unlike antibody quantity which decays in advanced disease, this approach is less likely to give false recent classification. Without a power source, this current would decay. noundəˈkādəˈkeɪ 1The state or process of rotting or decomposition. hardwood is more resistant to decay than softwood bacterial decay Example sentencesExamples The report highlights a number of problems, including the degeneration and decay of timber in the upper sections where the tree has been previously topped and pruned. The most common type of tooth damage is decay, caused by a combination of poor toothbrushing and a sugary diet. Corn crown and root decay can weaken stalks and complicate harvest. A late complication of neglected dental decay is a dental abscess. Chewing gum increases the flow of saliva leading to a reduction in dental decay. Health authorities tell us that fluoridation is a safe and a highly effective means of preventing dental decay in children. Most fossils are replicas of bones, teeth, shells, and other hard, mineral-based tissues that resist decay. Children whose teeth fall out early due to decay, may not have straight adult teeth and require a dental brace. The rate of product decay is increasing. When an organism dies, oxidation reactions are responsible for the decay of the organic matter. The study did not find an association between secondhand smoke exposure and decay in permanent teeth. He was very much aware of the inevitability of decay and death as a part of life, an idea that Dutch artists called ‘Vanitas.’ It is well known that bacterial decay of organic matter in sediment liberates phosphate and bone is also a potential phosphate source. There's a smell of vegetable decay. Bald cypress is exotic, and both woods are exceptionally decay resistant and are excellent building materials. The feedback, clipping, and heavy crackle due to vinyl decay doesn't do much justice as far as preservation goes. Encased in iron or under glass, such relics were especially esteemed for their power to reverse the course of the body's eventual decay by effecting cures or allaying physical pain. Fluoride is normally added to toothpaste for the treatment of teeth to prevent decay. Certain of the test compounds have both prevented wood decay and killed native termite colonies. Soybean debris in fields with high levels of brown spot infection should be incorporated into the soil with tillage to increase the rate of decay of these plant tissues. Synonyms decomposition, rotting, going bad, putrefaction, putrescence, putridity, festering, spoilage, perishing, withering, shrivelling rot, rotting, corrosion, corroding, decomposition 1.1 Rotten matter or tissue. fluoride heals small spots of decay Example sentencesExamples There is a series of different protective proteins that can stop the bacteria adhering and growing and can reduce their ability to produce acid, and these are quite good also at repairing earlier areas of decay. When the decay reaches the pulp tissue, the blood vessels, and the nerves that serve the tooth, the pain starts - an insistent throbbing. Layers of moss and decay give a funereal quality to this weighty hall. If you notice black sooty fungus, brown or black spots of decay on leaves or flowers, or broken discoloration on leaves or stems of your orchids, they may be harboring a fungus, bacteria or virus. However, too much growth produces a strain on tissues and early decay. 1.2 Structural or physical deterioration. the old barn rapidly fell into decay Example sentencesExamples Over time, the plant growth not only concealed the structures; it also contributed greatly to their decay. The home is still empty today, and has suffered considerable interior damage, including structural decay resulting from water leaks in the building. One result of increased durability is that obsolescence rather than decay will be the major reason old structures and old products are torn down and thrown away. Providing new facilities becomes a higher priority than maintaining the same facilities in older neighbourhoods, which also leads to decay in areas near the city centre. Due to infrequent maintenance in recent decades, many of the city's grand structures are in terminal decay, undone by the vandalism of official apathy. Gradually the abandoned buildings fell into decay or were adopted for other uses. The home fell into decay by the start of the 1970s. It comes less than two weeks after the worst blackout in US history, a social disaster that had its roots in the decay of the electrical transmission grid. The health board and the staff looking after these people are doing a wonderful job in a building that is rapidly falling into decay. ‘Our urban environment is in decay because of a lack of maintenance which is common across Africa,’ Adebayo said. Smith fears that there are many other paintings in the collection that are in a similar state of decay - what her profession terms ‘actively deteriorating’. Poor ventilation is a common feature that promotes mold growth and structural decay in buildings. The early designers of urban-aid programs saw inner-city decay as more than just an economic matter. A couple of glistening new campuses mask the shocking physical decay of dozens of city schools. However, in recent times the walkway including the adjacent river has fallen into decay with overgrown weeds, graffiti, dumping. ‘There is a general feeling around the town that the park is slipping into decay,’ Comm Kiely stated. When it closed the canal was seen as a dirty, decaying relic of an industrial past, and it sank into decay and dereliction. Some scientists now believe that smoking may store up liability to stress and cause mental illness as well as physical decay. For all its crumbling decay, the faded splendour, its shortages and its collapsed economy, Cuba is a vibrant and thrilling place to visit. This colossal structure of iron and glass, despite the gradual decay and depletion it suffered over the 82 years of its existence, had not lost its ability to amaze. Synonyms deterioration, degeneration, debasement, degradation, decline, slipping, waning, ebb, shrinking, withering, weakening, atrophy, crumbling, disintegration, collapse, lapse, fall, failure 1.3 The process of declining in quality, power, or vigor. preachers warning of moral decay Example sentencesExamples Intellectual deterioration leads to political decay. Increased consumption has the potential to increase the number of traffic accidents, increase crime and contribute to the moral decay of the community, she said. The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 after a long period of internal political and economic decline and decay. For Webster's audience, Italy was perceived as a site of political intrigue, economic power, decadence, and moral decay. Glass shattered on the pavement, all around are the signs of urban decay. Even some of the great multinationals that were ‘blue chips’ with investors at some point of time have been witnessing gradual decay. Unlike Britain, Rome succumbed not to the rise of a new empire, but to internal decay and a death of a thousand cuts from various barbarian groups. No politician is talking about ideas or programs to liberate the people from the current economic retrogression and social decay. People talk a lot about cultural decay and declining values and the blame is usually placed on evil liberals. Every sector of our society seems to be in moral decay. The sense of urban decay is much more evident and the chaos of the street is not balanced but overwhelming. ‘Together let us find solutions to moral decay by jointly developing a strategy and a programme of action,’ Masondo says. It is all part of the decline and decay of our modern culture. The Supreme Court hearing has underscored the far-reaching decay of bourgeois democracy in the US. A grave economic symptom of decay was… the gradual transference of the entire economy to the ownership of stock companies… Traditional societies in underdeveloped countries are no more immune to creeping moral decay than their more sophisticated cousins in rich, developed nations. The goal of conservatism is to defend our civilization from decay and decadence, from a weakening of our principles. It is my conviction that the real reason that the Soviet Union collapsed was not economic ruin or systemic decay: it was cynicism. Both the attempted coup in Fiji and the ousting of the government in the Solomons have exposed the advanced state of decay in the state structures of these countries. In their wake, the giant auto concerns leave behind an industrial wasteland of mass unemployment, ruined infrastructure and social decay. 1.4Physics The change of a radioactive substance, particle, etc. into another by the emission of radiation. the gas radon is produced by the decay of uranium in rocks and soil Example sentencesExamples The principles of alpha decay are used in radioactive dating, in which half-lives play an important part. The radioactive decay releases energy in the form of ionising radiation. Plutonium does not exist in nature but results from radioactive decay of uranium - 239. Radon is present in the atmosphere because it is constantly being formed during the radioactive decay of uranium and radium. The half-life of radioactive matter is the time before half of any given amount of nuclei will break down through alpha decay. 1.5technical Gradual decrease in the magnitude of a physical quantity. the decay of electrical fields in the electromagnets Example sentencesExamples In addition to slowing the decay of the tail currents at - 120 mV, there was a change in the relation of the second tail current to the first. This is one order of magnitude slower than the decay of K in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle. However, once again, the declining field strength is best explained by an exponential decay of the field due to a decaying electric current. After linear baseline subtraction, to account for the gradual decay of the synchrotron beam intensity, two kinds of treatments were performed. Measurements of the decay of the electrical field across the thylakoid membrane following a light - dark transition might give some clues to this. Origin Late Middle English: from Old French decair, based on Latin decidere ‘fall down or off’, from de- ‘from’ + cadere ‘fall’.
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