transitive verb

• 1(of wind, water, or other natural agents) gradually wear away (soil, rock, or land)

  ‘the cliffs have been eroded by the sea’

  More example sentences

  • ‘This water eroded the natural limestone of the island into a series of natural caves that became gradually drowned as the ice-sheets melted and the sea level rose.’
  • ‘They readily understood how water erodes rock, and this made Lyell's report all the more believable.’
  • ‘During its passage over land, water erodes vast amounts of continental rock.’
  • ‘The object was just that: a stone carving, eroded by water, but with a discernible figure of a woman holding something in her arms.’
  • ‘First, wind and water erode it, especially during tropical storms and hurricanes.’
  • ‘Layered deposits have been partly eroded by the wind in some places, exposing an etched surface.’
  • ‘The walls here are cut by centuries of flood and fabulously eroded by wind and storm.’
  • ‘Steep, rough and eroded by the wind, it imposes a hard vertical dance on a climber.’
  • ‘Avoid planting on ridges where rows can be exposed to dry soil conditions and wind which may erode the soil, exposing the seed and making the hill too small to cover new tubers.’
  • ‘Experts said they believed the road's foundations had been eroded by water but that nothing would have happened if traffic conditions along that section of road had been normal.’
  • ‘The limestone takes millions of years to form and thousands more being eroded by water to give it the unusual worn appearance.’
  • ‘However, the topography of the hills in the area indicates that before Quaternary erosion a blanket of easily eroded rocks covered most of the peninsula.’
  • ‘Since then, the solar wind has gradually eroded the Martian atmosphere so that today it is less than 1% as thick as that of the Earth.’
  • ‘Over time, the wind has eroded the landscape and converted the slate rocks into small fragments.’
  • ‘Recent rains likely eroded the topsoil away to a level below the crown.’
  • ‘This is the process by which rainwater erodes limestone cliffs and creates limestone caves and sinkholes.’
  • ‘Wind, sand and time have eroded the rock in the strangest of ways.’
  • ‘The water slowly eroded the pile of blue, liquid into the silver drain.’
  • ‘Also high pressure water can erode mortar joints.’
  • ‘A canyon, too, is the consequence of ‘natural’ processes such as the way fluids erode rock.’

  Synonyms

  erode, abrade, scour, scratch, scrape, rasp, rub away, rub down, grind away, fret, waste away, wash away, crumble, crumble away, wear down

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1no object (of soil, rock, or land) be gradually worn away by natural agents.
     ‘soft sedimentary rocks have eroded away’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Eventually the surrounding layers of older rock eroded away, leaving this mass exposed as a monadnock.’
     • ‘High on the side of the valley is a band of hard stone, below which softer rock has eroded out leaving overhangs and rock shelters along the base of the cliff.’
     • ‘Haitians have chopped down so many trees that the soil is eroding, making it harder to farm.’
     • ‘As the land erodes and changes so do the cultural aspects of the island.’
     • ‘Farmers say that in some places it's so thick, grass won't grow underneath it and the soil erodes.’
     • ‘Christianity's anyway tenuous situation in the holy land eroded.’
     • ‘No, these wetlands were not developed, they eroded away.’
     • ‘The terrain has eroded and only a few gnarled trees linger.’
     • ‘Mr Porter added that it was possible to see through the wall in places because so much stonework had eroded away.’
     • ‘Now I can make out the huge blocks of stone naturally eroded into these surprisingly regular shapes.’
     • ‘Both bays are part of a massive volcano crater that has eroded away.’
     • ‘Clear contrasts that once separated the two lands are eroding, blurring.’
     • ‘Trees and forests had been cut down to provide fuel and even the most fertile soils were eroding at an alarming rate.’
     • ‘Minerals such as calcium and magnesium eroded away and poured into the sea, where they ‘fixed’ carbon dioxide and stopped it escaping into the air.’
     • ‘The trees have all been cut down on the hills here, and the soil has eroded, leaving chalk exposed.’
     • ‘Without the work these planters do, soils would erode, hillsides would slide into streams, and entire habitats would be devastated.’
     • ‘But 1,000 feet of sandy beach have since eroded away, including all 210 feet that spanned the length of Sunset Cove.’
     • ‘It is a plain three-part button that was produced from a low-grade brass or copper base with the addition of silver plating, much of which has eroded away.’
     • ‘The west wall is preserved only in the southwest corner, while a large part of the floor along the western side has eroded away.’
     • ‘Soil eroded from newly developed housing sites and washed into the estuary to accumulate there without benefit of filtering by impacted wetlands.’
  2. 1.2Gradually destroy or be gradually destroyed.
     with object ‘this humiliation has eroded what confidence Jean has’
     More example sentences

     • ‘profit margins are eroding’
     • ‘Concerns about falling victim to phishing scams are eroding US consumer confidence in online banking and e-commerce.’
     • ‘All of this leaves gnawing questions, questions that erode consumer confidence.’
     • ‘That could erode overall confidence in the economy and undermine the spending and investment needed to get it moving.’
     • ‘The scourge is not only devastating but it destroys systems and erodes all integrity in the affected society.’
     • ‘One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed.’
     • ‘And to make things worse, coffee prices have been on a nose dive since the split, eroding farmers' confidence in coffee.’
     • ‘But the subculture has many serious negative effects, eroding morale and confidence in the church.’
     • ‘It also means considerable extra expense in deliveries plus extra returns and the like. Finally, it erodes confidence in each news agency and this hurts our future.’
     • ‘Confidence is eroded and the health of our nation suffers.’
     • ‘Purchasing activities fell into private hands and land sales continued to erode Iroquois territories.’
     • ‘We shall not forget them, nor this magnificent production of a play that reminds us in our selfish age how collective responsibility and camaraderie have eroded away.’
     • ‘Although that culture eroded away over the generations, it did so at different rates in different places and among different people.’
     • ‘It also eroded away in the South, with the spread of education among whites and blacks.’
     • ‘I used to have immense pride and respect for England but since 1946 that has almost eroded away.’
     • ‘Every wall I had constructed to keep myself from hurting deeply, from being vulnerable, eroded away into nothingness, leaving me alone and frail.’
     • ‘Perhaps his story is a reminder that life is fickle, and what we have today, can be slowly, or suddenly, eroded away, depending upon our choices, and the events of life.’
     • ‘Upon arrival everything was going right, all my worries slowly eroded away.’
     • ‘I blinked at him as another fundamental bit of my worldview eroded away.’
     • ‘I lay still, listening with a numb feeling as my small island of stability eroded away from beneath me.’
     Synonyms

     wear away, wear down, abrade, scrape away, grind down, crumble, dissolve, weather

     View synonyms
  3. 1.3Medicine (of a disease) gradually destroy (bodily tissue)
     ‘many had their upper incisors missing and their maxillae eroded’
     More example sentences

     • ‘vascular injury due to eroding ulcers’
     • ‘This measurement method is especially important when assessing PrUs because these wounds are more likely to erode subcutaneous tissue than skin.’
     • ‘George's face is badly disfigured and he has no fingers or toes; his voice is high-pitched because a part of his throat has been eroded by the disease.’
     • ‘In severe cases, this can actually erode esophageal tissue (erosive esophagitis).’
     • ‘The lining epithelium was often eroded, and the underlying stroma showed dense infiltration by inflammatory cells.’
     • ‘Known as ‘Rodent Ulcers’ because they gnaw away at healthy tissues, they can invade and erode cartilage and even bone.’