| 释义 |
erode, v.|ɪˈrəʊd|
[a. Fr. érode-r, ad. L. ērōd-ĕre, f. ē out + rōdĕre to gnaw.]
To gnaw away.
1. a. trans. Of the action of acids, canker, ulceration, etc.: To destroy by slow consumption.
1612[see eroding ppl. a.]. 1626Bacon Sylva (1627) §983 It hath beene anciently received that the Sea Hare hath an Antipathy with the Lungs..and erodeth them. 1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 187 The blood..becoming sharp, doth easily erode the vessels. 1762Gentl. Mag. 274 A thick yellowish matter, which eroded everything near it. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 432 Liquid muriatic acid..erodes animal and vegetable substances. 1836Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 232/2 The process of ulceration..eroding the middle coat [of the vessel]. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 119 All natural waters can dissolve carbonate of lime..and thus erode the limestone rocks.
†b. transf. of a personal agent. rare.
1781E. Darwin Bot. Gard., Econ. Vegetation ii. Notes, Hannibal was said to erode his way over the Alps by fire and vinegar.
2. Geol. Of the action of currents, glaciers, etc.:
a. To wear away; to eat out.
b. To form (a channel, etc.) by gradual wearing away.
c. intr. To undergo erosion. Also fig.
a.1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 223 The river has filled the lake, and partially cut through the barrier, which it is still gradually eroding to a greater depth. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (ed. 6) I. vi. 214 The adjacent land seemed eroded in a remarkable manner.
b.1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 170 The materials through which the channel is eroded. 1859R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 122 Cups, and basins, eroded by the friction of the gravelly waters. 1872W. S. Symonds Rec. Rocks vi. 166 Before the Lugg had eroded the track in which it now flows.
c.1862Dana Man. Geol. 636 The stream..commences to erode laterally during freshets. 1867Murchison Siluria xx. (ed. 4) 492 The deep ocean never erodes. 1969Daily Tel. 15 Oct. 16 (heading) Are the joys of canal boating to erode away? 1970Ibid. 14 Oct. 17/2 Over the years their power has eroded considerably.
3. In etymological sense (see quot.).
1816Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1843) I. 328 The stone-eating caterpillars are now found to erode the walls..solely for the purpose of forming their cocoons. |