EROSION
Dictionary entry overview: What does erosion mean?
• EROSION (noun)
The noun EROSION has 4 senses:
1. (geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
2. condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind
3. a gradual decline of something
4. erosion by chemical action
Familiarity information: EROSION used as a noun is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• EROSION (noun)
Meaning:
(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Synonyms:
wearing away; wearing; erosion; eroding; eating away
Hypernyms ("erosion" is a kind of...):
geologic process; geological process ((geology) a natural process whereby geological features are modified)
Domain category:
geology (a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "erosion"):
chatter mark (marks on a glaciated rock caused by the movement of a glacier)
ablation (the erosive process that reduces the size of glaciers)
abrasion; attrition; corrasion; detrition (erosion by friction)
beach erosion (the erosion of beaches)
deflation ((geology) the erosion of soil as a consequence of sand and dust and loose rocks being removed by the wind)
planation (the process of erosion whereby a level surface is produced)
soil erosion (the washing away of soil by the flow of water)
Meaning:
Condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("erosion" is a kind of...):
environmental condition (the state of the environment)
Meaning:
A gradual decline of something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Context example:
after the accounting scandal there was an erosion of confidence in the auditors
Hypernyms ("erosion" is a kind of...):
decline; diminution (change toward something smaller or lower)
Meaning:
Erosion by chemical action
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Synonyms:
corroding; corrosion; erosion
Hypernyms ("erosion" is a kind of...):
chemical action; chemical change; chemical process ((chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "erosion"):
indentation; pitting; roughness (the formation of small pits in a surface as a consequence of corrosion)
rust; rusting (the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water)
