v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Eroded; p. pr. & vb. n. Eroding. ] [ L. erodere, erosum; e out + rodere to gnaw. See Rodent. ] 1. To eat into or away; to corrode; as, canker erodes the flesh. “The blood . . . erodes the vessels.” Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

The smaller charge is more apt to . . . erode the gun. Am. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geol. & Phys. Geog.) (a) To wear away; as, streams and glaciers erode the land. (b) To produce by erosion, or wearing away; as, glaciers erode U-shaped valleys. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. to reduce or lessen as if by eroding; as, a politician's base of support is eroded by evidence of corruption; the buying power of the dollar is eroded by inflation. [ fig. ] [ PJC ]

p. p. & a. 1. Eaten away; gnawed; irregular, as if eaten or worn away. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Having the edge worn away so as to be jagged or irregularly toothed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. erodens, -entis, p. pr. of erodere. See Erode. ] (Med.) A medicine which eats away extraneous growths; a caustic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. sklhro`s hard + de`rma skin: cf. F. scléroderme. ] (a) (Zool.) One of a tribe of plectognath fishes (Sclerodermi) having the skin covered with hard scales, or plates, as the cowfish and the trunkfish. (b) One of the Sclerodermata. (c) Hardened, or bony, integument of various animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. ] (Med.) A disease of adults, characterized by a diffuse rigidity and hardness of the skin. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. ] (Zool.) The stony corals; the Madreporaria. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) (a) The hard integument of Crustacea. (b) Sclerenchyma. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } (Zool.) (a) Having the integument, or skin, hard, or covered with hard plates. (b) Of or pertaining to the Sclerodermata. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. xhro`s dry + de`rma skin. ] (Med.) (a) Ichthyosis. (b) A skin disease characterized by the presence of numerous small pigmented spots resembling freckles, with which are subsequently mingled spots of atrophied skin. [ 1913 Webster ]