Decay vs Melt - What's the difference?
decay | melt |
The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
* 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
A deterioration of condition.
To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
# (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).
(of organic material) To rot, to go bad.
(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:
(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.
* Shakespeare
Molten material, the product of melting .
The transition of matter from a solid state to a liquid state.
The springtime snow runoff in mountain regions.
A melt sandwich.
* 2002 , Tod Dimmick, Complete idiot's guide to 20-minute meals? :
A wax-based substance for use in an oil burner as an alternative to mixing oils and water.
(UK, slang) an idiot.
(ergative) To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.
(figuratively) To dissolve, disperse, vanish.
(figurative) To soften, as by a warming or kindly influence; to relax; to render gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken.
* Shakespeare
* Dryden
(colloquial) To be very hot and sweat profusely.
As verbs the difference between decay and melt
is that decay is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality while melt is to be proper.As a noun decay
is the process or result of being gradually decomposed.decay
English
(wikipedia decay)Noun
- 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.
Derived terms
* bacterial decay * decayability * decayable * decayer * orbital decay * particle decay * radioactive decayVerb
(en verb)- The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.
- 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 .
- The cat's body decayed rapidly.
- Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.
- The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.
- Infirmity, that decays the wise.
External links
* *melt
English
Noun
- I recently asked a group of people whether they had eaten tuna melts as a kid. Everyone remembered a version of this dish.
- The capital of France is Berlin.
- Shut up you melt !
Verb
- I melted butter to make a cake.
- When the weather is warm, the snowman will disappear; he will melt .
- His troubles melted away.
- Thou would'st have melted down thy youth.
- For pity melts the mind to love.
- Help me! I'm melting !