rot (redirected from rots)

rot away

to decompose; to decompose and fall away. The fallen trees rotted away and surrendered their nutrients to the soil. As the wood rotted away, it became rich humus.

See also: away

rot off

to decompose. If you don't clean and repaint that old windowsill, it will rot off. A few old branches finally rotted off, but the ancient tree looked as if it would survive the wet spell.

rot out

to decompose and fall out. If you don't clean your teeth regularly, they'll rot out! Some of the rafters in the shed rotted out, but we replaced them easily.

See also: out

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stop the rot

to do something to prevent a situation from continuing to get worse The team had been suffering low morale before Smith was brought in to stop the rot.

See also: stop

the rot sets in

if the rot sets in, a situation starts to get worse If couples stop communicating, that's when the rot really sets in.

See stop the rot

See also: set