Definitions for the word "rot" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. v. i.
To undergo a process common to organic substances by which they lose the cohesion of their parts and pass through certain chemical changes, giving off usually in some stages of the process more or less offensive odors; to become decomposed by a natural process; to putrefy; to decay.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. v. i.
Figuratively: To perish slowly; to decay; to die; to become corrupt.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. v. t.
To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. v. t.
To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. n.
Process of rotting; decay; putrefaction.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. n.
A disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi. See Bitter rot, Black rot, etc., below.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. n.
A fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals. It is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder. See 1st Fluke, 2.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. v.
(-tt-) 1 (of animal or vegetable matter) lose its original form by the chemical action of bacteria, fungi, etc.; decay. 2 gradually perish or waste away (left to rot in prison). 3 cause to rot, make rotten. n. 1 rotting; decay. 2 slang nonsense (talks rot). 3 decline in standards etc. (rot set in). int. Expressing incredulity or ridicule. [old english]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
9. slang
nonsense, anything bad, disagreeable, or useless.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864
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