| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | vanishing |
| Synonyms: | ceasing to exist, decline and fall, dematerialization, departure, desertion, disappearing act, disintegration, dispersal, dissipation, dissolution, ebbing, eclipse, escape, evanescence, evaporation, exit, exodus, fading, flight, going, loss, melting, passing, receding, recession, removal, retirement, wane, wearing away, withdrawal |
| Antonyms: | appearance, arrival, coming, entrance |
| Main Entry: | decaying |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | rotting |
| Synonyms: | breaking down, breaking up, collapsing, crumbling, decomposing, deteriorating, disintegrating, eroding, falling to pieces, oxidizing, rusting, spoiling, wasting away, wearing away |
| Main Entry: | wear and tear |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | devaluation due to use |
| Synonyms: | ablation, attrition, consumption, decrement, depletion, depreciation, dissipation, erosion, hard wear, overuse, ravages of time, wearing away, weathering |
| Main Entry: | vanishment |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | disappearance |
| Synonyms: | ceasing to exist, decline and fall, dematerialization, departure, desertion, disappearing act, disintegration, dispersal, dissipation, dissolution, ebbing, eclipse, escape, evanescence, evaporation, exit, exodus, fade-out, fading, flight, going, loss, melting, passing, receding, recession, removal, retirement, wane, wearing away, withdrawal |
| Main Entry: | bite |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | corrode, eat away |
| Synonyms: | burn, consume, decay, decompose, deteriorate, dissolve, eat into, engrave, erode, etch, oxidize, rot, rust, scour, sear, slash, smart, sting, tingle, wear away |
| Main Entry: | damage |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cause injury, loss |
| Synonyms: | abuse, bang up, batter, bleach, blight, break, burn, contaminate, corrode, corrupt, crack, cripple, deface, defile, dirty, discolor, disfigure, disintegrate, dismantle, fade, gnaw, harm, hurt, impair, incapacitate, infect, injure, lacerate, maim, maltreat, mangle, mar, mutilate, pollute, ravage, rot, ruin, rust, scathe, scorch, scratch, smash, split, spoil, stab, stain, tamper with, tarnish, tear, undermine, vitiate, weaken, wear away, wound, wreak havoc on, wreck, wrong |
| Antonyms: | benefit, bless, enhance, favor, fix, improve, mend, perfect, repair |
| Main Entry: | decay |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | deteriorate, crumble |
| Synonyms: | atrophy, be impaired, become contaminated, blight, break up, collapse, corrode, curdle, decline, decompose, defile, degenerate, depreciate, discolor, disintegrate, dissolve, dry-rot, dwindle, fade, fail, get worse, go bad, go to seed, go to the dogs, hit rock bottom, hit the skids, lessen, mildew, mold, molder, mortify, pejorate, perish, pollute, putrefy, putresce, reach depths, rot, sap, shrivel, sicken, sink, slump, spoil, suppurate, turn, wane, waste away, weaken, wear away, wither |
| Antonyms: | build, develop, flourish, germinate, grow, improve, ripen, strengthen |
| Main Entry: | decrease |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | grow less or make less |
| Synonyms: | abate, calm down, check, contract, crumble, curb, curtail, cut down, decay, decline, degenerate, depreciate, deteriorate, devaluate, die down, diminish, droop, drop, drop off, dry up, dwindle, ease, ebb, evaporate, fade, fall off, lessen, let up, lighten, lose edge, lower, modify, narrow down, peter out, quell, quiet, reduce, restrain, run low, settle, shrink, shrivel, sink, slack off, slacken, slash, slow down, slump, soften, subside, tail off, wane, waste, weaken, wear away, wear down, wither |
| Antonyms: | add, develop, enlarge, expand, grow, increase, raise |
| Main Entry: | deteriorate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | decay, degenerate |
| Synonyms: | adulterate, alloy, be worse for wear, become worse, break, corrode, corrupt, crumble, debase, debilitate, decline, decompose, degrade, deprave, depreciate, descend, disimprove, disintegrate, ebb, fade, fail, fall apart, flag, go downhill, go to pieces, go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, impair, injure, languish, lapse, lessen, lose it, lose quality, lower, mar, pervert, regress, retrograde, retrogress, rot, sink, skid, slide, spoil, undermine, vitiate, weaken, wear away, worsen |
| Notes: | to degenerate means 'to decline in value, move lower on a scale' but to deteriorate means 'to worsen, to become lowered, or be reduced in value'; degenerate pertains more to character and virtue while deteriorate is more about loss of strength or vitality |
| Antonyms: | build, construct, develop, get better, improve |