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Decay vs Riot - What's the difference?

decay | riot |

As nouns the difference between decay and riot

is that decay is the process or result of being gradually decomposed while riot is wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult.

As verbs the difference between decay and riot

is that decay is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality while riot is to create or take part in a riot; to raise an uproar or sedition.

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

    * *

    riot

    English

    (wikipedia riot)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult.
  • * Shakespeare
    • His headstrong riot hath no curb.
  • The tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by an unlawful assembly of three or more persons in the execution of some private object.
  • Excessive and expensive feasting; wild and loose festivity; revelry.
  • * Chaucer
    • Venus loveth riot and dispense.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • the lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day

    Derived terms

    * rioter * run riot

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To create or take part in a riot; to raise an uproar or sedition.
    • The nuclear protesters rioted outside the military base.
  • (obsolete) To act in an unrestrained or wanton manner; to indulge in excess of luxury, feasting, etc.
  • * Daniel
    • Now he exact of all, wastes in delight, / Riots in pleasure, and neglects the law.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • No pulse that riots , and no blood that glows.

    Anagrams

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