transitive. To devour, gnaw; to eat up or into, corrode.

transferred of slow and gradual destructive action, as of frost, rust, disease, chemical corrosives, friction, the waves, etc.: = eat, v. 10. Const…

Of destructive agents: To corrode, waste away, consume. (Cf. fret, v.1 3.) Said also of internal pains.

To remove, destroy by gradual erosion or corrosion. literal and figurative.

transferred. Of slow and gradual action, as of frost, rust, cancerous or similar disease, chemical corrosives, the waves, etc. Const. into (the…

transitive. To act on destructively; esp. to wear down or eat away at. Also figurative.

transferred. To wear away or destroy gradually, as if by eating or gnawing away the texture. Said of the action of chemical agents or rust upon…

transitive. To eat out or away. Usually in passive. Obsolete.

intransitive. To make a way by gnawing or corrosion; literal and figurative. Const. into, through.

transitive. Of the action of acids, canker, ulceration, etc.: To destroy by slow consumption.

To destroy as a parasite or a corrosive. Also figurative, esp. in phrases with heart.

trans. and intr. To corrode, or eat into, as a strong acid or other chemical agent; to act upon chemically as a mordant.

To corrode. to etch out: to eat out (by an acid, etc.).

transitive. To eat out, corrode.

transitive. To infect and corrode (a person, thing, etc.) through the introduction of a malignant or destructive influence. Also (occasionally): to…

To ‘bite in’ with acid, etch.