To corrode is to slowly destroy or wear away a material, usually metal, through a chemical process like rusting.
It comes from Latin “corrodere,” meaning “to gnaw away,” from “com-” (completely) and “rodere” (to gnaw). The idea is that something is being eaten up little by little.
Corrosion is like invisible teeth slowly chewing on metal. That’s why rusty bridges or pipes are literally being ‘gnawed away’ by air and water. We even use the word metaphorically for things like ‘corroding trust’—as if emotions can rust too.
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