[
US
/dɪˈkeɪ/
]
[ UK /dɪkˈeɪ/ ]
[ UK /dɪkˈeɪ/ ]
NOUN
- a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current
- the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive substance along with the emission of ionizing radiation
- the organic phenomenon of rotting
-
an inferior state resulting from the process of decaying
the corpse was in an advanced state of decay
the house had fallen into a serious state of decay and disrepair - the process of gradually becoming inferior
VERB
-
lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current
the particles disintegrated during the nuclear fission process -
fall into decay or ruin
The unoccupied house started to decay -
undergo decay or decomposition
The body started to decay and needed to be cremated
How To Use decay In A Sentence
- They loaded me up with happy gas, told me I had an abscess (eww), drilled out some decay and took $200 out of my pocket.
- A statistical model for decay and formation of heavy hadronic resonances is formulated.
- This increases the concentration in the mouth of bacteria that can cause tooth and gum decay. Times, Sunday Times
- The decay of the meat could have been prevented by proper refrigeration.
- Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) has the ability to survive in a highly acidic environment, which is what makes it such a nasty tooth-decayer: remember, it’s the acid bacteria produce as they consume carbohydrates that eats away at tooth enamel. Paging all you "Face on Mars" believers...
- How often I have I known him affect an open brow and a jovial manner, joining in the games of the gentry, and even in the sports of the common people, in order to invest himself with a temporary degree of popularity; while, in fact, his heart was bursting to witness what he called the degeneracy of the times, the decay of activity among the aged, and the want of zeal in the rising generation. Redgauntlet
- The fragrance evoked an aroma of fruits and flowers so ripe, they are starting to decay, reminding us of Thanatos, which is forever inseparable from Eros. Archive 2007-07-01
- retting" which separates the fibre from the decaying part of the plant. Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer
- I have completed a monument more lasting than bronze and higher than the decaying Pyramids of kings, which cannot be destroyed by gnawing rain nor wild north wind, or by the unnumbered procession of the years and flight of time.
- Age is here, but it does not suggest the idea of dilapidation or decay; rather of something which has been put under a glass case, and preserved with care from all extraneous influences. Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places Being Papers on Art, in Relation to Archaeology, Painting, Art-Decoration, and Art-Manufacture
