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Decay vs Damp - What's the difference?

decay | damp |

As nouns the difference between decay and damp

is that decay is the process or result of being gradually decomposed while damp is steam.

As a verb decay

is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.

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.

    damp

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Being in a state between dry and wet; moderately wet; moist.
  • :* O'erspread with a damp sweat and holy fear -
  • The lawn was still damp so we decided not to sit down.
    The paint is still damp , so please don't touch it.
  • (obsolete) Pertaining to or affected by noxious vapours; dejected, stupified.
  • * 1667 , John Milton, Paradise Lost , Book 1, ll. 522-3:
  • All these and more came flocking; but with looks / Down cast and damp .

    Synonyms

    * (l) * (l)/(l)

    Derived terms

    * dampen * dampness

    See also

    *

    Noun

  • Moisture; humidity; dampness.
  • (archaic) Fog; fogginess; vapor.
  • * Milton
  • Night with black air / Accompanied, with damps and dreadful gloom.
  • (archaic) Dejection or depression.
  • * Joseph Addison
  • Even now, while thus I stand blest in thy presence, / A secret damp of grief comes o'er my soul.
  • * J. D. Forbes
  • It must have thrown a damp over your autumn excursion.
  • (archaic, or, historical, mining) A gaseous product, formed in coal mines, old wells, pits, etc.
  • Derived terms

    * afterdamp * blackdamp * chokedamp * damp sheet * firedamp * stinkdamp * whitedamp

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To dampen; to render damp; to moisten; to make humid, or moderately wet; as, to damp cloth.
  • (archaic) To put out, as fire; to depress or deject; to deaden; to cloud; to check or restrain, as action or vigor; to make dull; to weaken; to discourage.
  • To suppress vibrations (mechanical) or oscillations (electrical) by converting energy to heat (or some other form of energy).
  • :* To damp your tender hopes -
  • :* Usury dulls and damps all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring if it were not for this slug -
  • :* How many a day has been damped and darkened by an angry word! -
  • :* The failure of his enterprise damped the spirit of the soldiers. -
  • :* Hollow rollers damp vibration. - [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3238/is_200004/ai_n7935204]
  • Anagrams

    * ----