Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COR-RODE', v.t. [L. corrodo; con and rodo, to gnaw, Ar. أَرَضَ aradha, to eat or gnaw, (qu. raw and crude;) It. corrodere, rodere; Fr. corroder; Sp. corroer; W. rhwtiaw, to corrode, to rub or fret.]

1. To eat away by degrees; to wear away, or diminish by gradually separating small particles from a body, in the manner an animal gnaws a substance. Thus, nitric acid corrodes copper.
2. To wear away by degrees; to prey upon; to impair; to consume, or diminish by slow degrees. Jealousy and envy corrode the constitution. Substances are corroded by time. The anxious man is a victim to corroding care.