v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Rotted; p. pr. & vb. n. Rotting. ] [ OE. rotien, AS. rotian; akin to D. rotten, Prov. G. rotten, OHG. rozz&unr_;n, G. rösten to steep flax, Icel. rotna to rot, Sw. ruttna, Dan. raadne, Icel. rottin rotten. √117. Cf. Ret, Rotten. ] 1. To undergo a process common to organic substances by which they lose the cohesion of their parts and pass through certain chemical changes, giving off usually in some stages of the process more or less offensive odors; to become decomposed by a natural process; to putrefy; to decay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot,
To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Figuratively: To perish slowly; to decay; to die; to become corrupt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rot, poor bachelor, in your club. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To putrefy; corrupt; decay; spoil. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Process of rotting; decay; putrefaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi. See Bitter rot, Black rot, etc., below. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. [ Cf. G. rotz glanders. ] A fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals. It is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder. See 1st Fluke, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

His cattle must of rot and murrain die. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bitter rot (Bot.), a disease of apples, caused by the fungus Glaeosporium fructigenum. F. L. Scribner. --
Black rot (Bot.), a disease of grapevines, attacking the leaves and fruit, caused by the fungus Laestadia Bidwellii. F. L. Scribner. --
Dry rot (Bot.) See under Dry. --
Grinder's rot (Med.) See under Grinder. --
Potato rot. (Bot.) See under Potato. --
White rot (Bot.), a disease of grapes, first appearing in whitish pustules on the fruit, caused by the fungus Coniothyrium diplodiella. F. L. Scribner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mus.) A species of zither, played like a guitar, used in the Middle Ages in church music; -- written also rotta. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. rota wheel. The name is said to allude to the design of the floor of the room in which the court used to sit, which was that of a wheel. See Rotary. ] 1. An ecclesiastical court of Rome, called also Rota Romana, that takes cognizance of suits by appeal. It consists of twelve members. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eng. Hist.) A short-lived political club established in 1659 by J.Harrington to inculcate the democratic doctrine of election of the principal officers of the state by ballot, and the annual retirement of a portion of Parliament. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Rhotacism. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to wheels or to rotary motion; rotary. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. rota wheel + -lite. ] (Paleon.) Any fossil foraminifer of the genus Rotalia, abundant in the chalk formation. See Illust. under Rhizopod. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. rota a wheel. See Roll, v., and cf. barouche, Rodomontade, Roué, Round, a., Rowel. ] Turning, as a wheel on its axis; pertaining to, or resembling, the motion of a wheel on its axis; rotatory; as, rotary motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rotary engine, steam engine in which the continuous rotation of the shaft is produced by the direct action of the steam upon rotating devices which serve as pistons, instead of being derived from a reciprocating motion, as in the ordinary engine; a steam turbine; -- called also rotatory engine. --
Rotary pump, a pump in which the fluid is impelled by rotating devices which take the place of reciprocating buckets or pistons. --
Rotary shears, shears, as for cloth, metal, etc., in which revolving sharp-edged or sharp-cornered wheels do the cutting. --
Rotary valve, a valve acting by continuous or partial rotation, as in the four-way cock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. rota a wheel + -scope. ] Same as Gyroscope, 1. [ 1913 Webster ]