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Decay vs Damage - What's the difference?

decay | damage |

As nouns the difference between decay and damage

is that decay is the process or result of being gradually decomposed while damage is injury or harm; the condition or measure of something not being intact.

As verbs the difference between decay and damage

is that decay is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality while damage is to impair the soundness, goodness, or value of; to harm or cause destruction.

decay

English

(wikipedia decay)

Noun

  • The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
  • * 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
    • I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay , this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years.
  • A deterioration of condition.

    • Derived terms

    * bacterial decay * decayability * decayable * decayer * orbital decay * particle decay * radioactive decay

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
    • The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.
  • # (intransitive, electronics, of storage media or the data on them) To undergo , that is, gradual degradation.
  • # (intransitive, computing, of software) To undergo , that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment,so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete.
  • # (intransitive, physics, of a satellite's orbit) To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body).
  • 2009 , Francis Lyall, Paul B. Larsen, Space Law: A Treatise , page 120:
  • Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbit decayed .
  • (of organic material) To rot, to go bad.
    • The cat's body decayed rapidly.
  • (intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.
  • * 2005 , Encyclopedia of Earth Science (edited by Timothy M. Kusky; ISBN 0-8160-4973-4), page 349:
    • Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.
  • (intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) To undergo , that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.
  • (aviation)
  • To cause to rot or deteriorate.
    • The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Infirmity, that decays the wise.

    External links

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    damage

    English

    (wikipedia damage)

    Noun

  • Injury or harm; the condition or measure of something not being intact.
    • The storm did a lot of damage to the area.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Great errors and absurdities many commit for want of a friend to tell them of them, to the great damage both of their fame and fortune.
  • (slang) Cost or expense.
    • "What's the damage ?" he asked the waiter.

    Verb

    (damag)
  • To impair the soundness, goodness, or value of; to harm or cause destruction.
    • Be careful not to damage any of the fragile items while unpacking them.
  • * Clarendon
    • He came up to the English admiral and gave him a broadside, with which he killed many of his men and damaged the ship.