Definitions

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

  • adjective Becoming putrid; putrefying.
  • adjective Of or relating to putrefaction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Becoming or growing putrid, or fetidly rotten; in course of putrefying; tainted with putrefaction or decay: as, putrescent flesh.
  • Of or pertaining to the process of putrefaction: as, a putrescent smell.

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

  • adjective Becoming putrid or rotten.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the process of putrefaction.

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

  • adjective becoming putrid; putrefying

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

  • adjective becoming putrid

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin putrēscēns, putrēscent-, present participle of putrēscere, to rot, inchoative of putrēre, to be rotten, from puter, putr-, rotten; see pū̆- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Attested since circa 1730, from Latin putrescens, present participle of putresco.

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Examples

  • Commercial repellents use animal products, such as putrescent egg solids, to make the plants unappealing to deer.

    The temperamental rose offers rewards in color, fragrance and luxuriance 2010

  • The carcasses could not be allowed to decay naturally, Ms McKibbin said, because they were considered "putrescent" nuclear waste, and so were kept frozen until they could be disposed of in a special landfill facility on the site.

    Top stories from Times Online 2010

  • But Violet's father harvested his putrescent basil without so much as a second thought and baked a batch of basil cupcakes.

    Sentimental Frosting Mike Lynch 2011

  • Ash pronounced which he has no way to know how many were strike by ikee, though he can guess which the some-more than the primary 100 which were directly putrescent from his iPhone.

    RTFM: Jailbroken iPhones get iRickrolled due to weak SSH access ... admin 2009

  • It smelled as if the room itself had been abruptly conveyed to some putrescent corner of Hell.

    The Sanchez Ghost 2009

  • So overpowering was it that it was easy to discover the source a mass of putrescent matter on the doorstep which in general outlines resembled a dog.

    Moon Face:The Shadow and the Flash 2010

  • Ash pronounced which he has no way to know how many were strike by ikee, though he can guess which the some-more than the primary 100 which were directly putrescent from his iPhone.

    Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009

  • Ash pronounced which he has no way to know how many were strike by ikee, though he can guess which the some-more than the primary 100 which were directly putrescent from his iPhone.

    RTFM: Jailbroken iPhones get iRickrolled due to weak SSH access ... admin 2009

  • Ash pronounced which he has no way to know how many were strike by ikee, though he can guess which the some-more than the primary 100 which were directly putrescent from his iPhone.

    Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009

  • "A lung of London," I said; "nay, an abscess, a great putrescent sore."

    FRYING-PAN ALLEY AND A GLIMPSE OF INFERNO 2010

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