‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_; love, &unr_; (personified) Eros, fr. &unr_; to love. ] (Greek Myth.) Love; the god of love; -- by earlier writers represented as one of the first and creative gods, by later writers as the son of Aphrodite, equivalent to the Latin god Cupid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. erosus, p. p. See Erode. ] 1. Irregular or uneven as if eaten or worn away. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Jagged or irregularly toothed, as if nibbled out or gnawed. -- E*rose"ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. erosio. See Erode. ] 1. The act or operation of eroding or eating away. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being eaten away; corrosion; canker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The wearing away of the earth's surface by any natural process. The chief agent of erosion is running water; minor agents are glaciers, the wind, and waves breaking against the coast. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. a gradual reduction or lessening as if by an erosive force; as, erosion of political support due to scandal; erosion of buying power by inflation. [ fig. ] [ PJC ]

a. That erodes or gradually eats away; tending to erode; corrosive. Humble. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. e- out + rostrate. ] (Bot.) Without a beak. [ 1913 Webster ]