v. [a. Fr. érode-r, ad. L. ērōd-ĕre, f. ē out + rōdĕre to gnaw.] To gnaw away.
1. trans. Of the action of acids, canker, ulceration, etc.: To destroy by slow consumption.
1612. [see ERODING ppl. a.].
1626. Bacon, Sylva (1627), § 983. It hath beene anciently received that the Sea Hare hath an Antipathy with the Lungs … and erodeth them.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., 187. The blood flowing thither hotter or (sticking there) becoming sharp, doth easily erode the vessels.
1762. Gentl. Mag., 274. A thick yellowish matter, which eroded everything near it.
1811. A. T. Thomson, Lond. Disp. (1818), 432. Liquid muriatic acid … erodes animal and vegetable substances.
1836. Todd, Cycl. Anat., I. 232/2. The process of ulceration … eroding the middle coat [of the vessel].
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 119. All natural waters can dissolve carbonate of lime … and thus erode the limestone rocks.
† b. transf. of a personal agent. rare.
1781. E. 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.
a. 1830. Lyell, 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.
1871. Tyndall, Fragm. Sc. (ed. 6), I. vi. 213–4. The adjacent land seemed eroded in a remarkable manner.
absol. 1862. Dana, Man. Geol., 636. The stream … commences to erode laterally during freshets.
1867. Murchison, Siluria, xx. (ed. 4), 492. The deep ocean never erodes.
b. 1830. Lyell, Princ. Geol., I. 170. The materials through which the channel is eroded.
1859. R. F. Burton, Centr. Afr., in Jrnl. Geog. Soc., XXIX. 122. Cups, and basins, eroded by the friction of the gravelly waters.
1872. W. S. Symonds, Rec. Rocks, vi. 166. Before the Lugg had eroded the track in which it now flows.
3. In etymological sense (see quot.).
1816. Kirby & Sp., Entomol. (1843), I. 328. The stone-eating caterpillars are now found to erode the walls … solely for the purpose of forming their cocoons.
