Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having the capability or tendency to cause corrosion.
  • adjective Gradually destructive; steadily harmful.
  • adjective Spitefully sarcastic.
  • noun A substance having the capability or tendency to cause corrosion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Literally, eating or gnawing; hence, destroying as if by gnawing away; wearing away or disintegrating by separating small parts or particles, especially under chemical action, as of acids: often used figuratively of immaterial agents, as care, time, etc., absolutely or with of.
  • noun Anything that corrodes, especially a chemical agent, as an acid; anything that wears away or disintegrates; figuratively, anything that has an analogous influence upon the mind or feelings.
  • To corrode.
  • To act by corrosion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which has the quality of eating or wearing away gradually.
  • noun That which has the power of fretting or irritating.
  • adjective Eating away; having the power of gradually wearing, changing, or destroying the texture or substance of a body.
  • adjective Having the quality of fretting or vexing.
  • adjective (Chem.) mercuric chloride, HgCl2; so called because obtained by sublimation, and because of its harsh irritating action on the body tissue. Usually it is in the form of a heavy, transparent, crystalline substance, easily soluble, and of an acrid, burning taste. It is a virulent poison, a powerful antiseptic, and an excellent antisyphilitic; called also mercuric bichloride. It is to be carefully distinguished from calomel, the mild chloride of mercury.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Eating away; having the power of gradually wearing, hanging, or destroying the texture or substance of a body; as the corrosive action of an acid.
  • adjective Having the quality of fretting or vexing.
  • adjective destroying or undermining something gradually
  • noun That which has the quality of eating or wearing away gradually.
  • noun Any solid, liquid or gas capable of irreparably harming living tissues or damaging material on contact.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective spitefully sarcastic
  • noun a substance having the tendency to cause corrosion (such a strong acids or alkali)
  • adjective of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action

Etymologies

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