Definition of "erode" []

• To wear (something) away by or as if by abrasion: Waves eroded the shore. (verb-transitive)
• To eat into; corrode. (verb-transitive)
• To make or form by wearing away: The river eroded a deep valley. (verb-transitive)
• To cause to diminish or deteriorate as if by eating into or wearing away: "Long enduring peace often erodes popular resolution” ( C.L. Sulzberger). (verb-transitive)
• To become worn or eaten away: The cliffs have eroded over the centuries. Public confidence in the administration eroded. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Meanwhile Americans will be discouraged from doing the right things to mitigate the impact of higher gas prices and the nationwide system of roads will further erode from a failure to properly fund upkeep from the fuel tax."
• "It got to the point where the aluminum coating started to erode from the bracelet and I had to apply medical tape to the inside to prevent my wrist from becoming green."
• "For that dynamic to erode is to mean Iraq has a chance at being a functional, healthy, successful state."