To decay means to rot, decompose, break down. Our bodies anything organic will decay after death. Broken sidewalks, potholes, graffiti are all signs of urban decay. Tooth decay is something to avoid.
To pass gradually from a sound, prosperous, or perfect state, to one of imperfection, adversity, or dissolution; to waste away; to decline; to fail; to become weak, corrupt, or disintegrated; to rot; to perish;
Noun
the organic phenomenon of rotting
Noun
a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current
Noun
the process of gradually becoming inferior
Noun
the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive substance along with the emission of ionizing radiation
Noun
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"
Verb
fall into decay or ruin; "The unoccupied house started to decay"
Verb
lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current; "the particles disintegrated during the nuclear fission process"
Verb
undergo decay or decomposition; "The body started to decay and needed to be cremated"
v. i.
To pass gradually from a sound, prosperous, or perfect
state, to one of imperfection, adversity, or dissolution; to waste
away; to decline; to fail; to become weak, corrupt, or disintegrated;
to rot; to perish; as, a tree decays; fortunes decay; hopes decay.
v. t.
To cause to decay; to impair.
v. t.
To destroy.
n.
Gradual failure of health, strength, soundness, prosperity,
or of any species of excellence or perfection; tendency toward
dissolution or extinction; corruption; rottenness; decline;
deterioration; as, the decay of the body; the decay of virtue; the
decay of the Roman empire; a castle in decay.
n.
Destruction; death.
n.
Cause of decay.
Decay
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
Decay
Infirmity, that decays the wise.2.
Decay
Perhaps my God, though he be far before, May turn, and take me by the hand, and more - May strengthen my decays.
His [Johnson's] failure was not to be ascribed to intellectual decay.
Which has caused the decay of the consonants to follow somewhat different laws.2.
He that plots to be the only figure among ciphers, is the decay of the whole age.
To pass gradually from a sound, prosperous, or perfect state, to one of imperfection, adversity, or dissolution; to waste away; to decline; to fail; to become weak, corrupt, or disintegrated; to rot; to perish;
To cause to decay; to impair.
Gradual failure of health, strength, soundness, prosperity, or of any species of excellence or perfection; tendency toward dissolution or extinction; corruption; rottenness; decline; deterioration;
Usage Examples
Middle age is youth without levity, and age without decay.
Age is not all decay it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk.
Writers may be disreputable, incorrigible, early to decay or late to bloom but they dare to go it alone.
It's art that pushes against psychological and social expectations, that tries to transform decay into something generative, that is replicative in a baroque way, that isn't about progress, and wants to - as Walt Whitman put it - 'contain multitudes.'
Autumn wins you best by this its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay.
A government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay.
I am against nature. I don't dig nature at all. I think nature is very unnatural. I think the truly natural things are dreams, which nature can't touch with decay.
Misspelled Formdecay, sdecay, edecay, fdecay, xdecay, cdecay, secay, eecay, fecay, xecay, cecay, dsecay, deecay, dfecay, dxecay, dcecay, dwecay, d3ecay, d4ecay, drecay, dsecay, ddecay, dwcay, d3cay, d4cay, drcay, dscay, ddcay, dewcay, de3cay, de4cay, dercay, descay, dedcay, dexcay, dedcay, defcay, devcay, de cay, dexay, deday, defay, devay, de ay, decxay, decday, decfay, decvay, dec ay, decqay, decway, decsay, deczay, decqy, decwy, decsy, deczy, decaqy, decawy, decasy, decazy, decaty, deca6y, deca7y, decauy, decahy, decat, deca6, deca7, decau, decah, decayt, decay6, decay7, decayu, decayh.
Other Usage ExamplesFundamentalists are panicked by the apparent disintegration of the family, the disappearance of certainty and the decay of morality. Fear leads them to ask, if we cannot trust the Bible, what can we trust?
Too much freedom can lead to the soul's decay.
Government is an evil it is only the thoughtlessness and vices of men that make it a necessary evil. When all men are good and wise, government will of itself decay.
Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay.
Great effort is required to arrest decay and restore vigor. One must exercise proper deliberation, plan carefully before making a move, and be alert in guarding against relapse following a renaissance.
As the blessings of health and fortune have a beginning, so they must also find an end. Everything rises but to fall, and increases but to decay.
There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
Among the many reasons assignable for the sad decay of true Christianity, perhaps the neglecting to assemble ourselves together, in religious societies, may not be one of the least.