decay

(uncountable, usually)(biology) Rot; any processes or result of organic matter being gradually decomposed, especially by microbial action.

tooth decay/dental decay—wood-decay fungi—bacterial decay—photochemical decay

(uncountable, usually)Deterioration of condition; loss of status, quality, strength, or fortune.

civic and moral decay—systemic decay—fall into decay—urban decay—arrested decay—memory decay

(uncountable, usually)(physics) Radioactive decay; decomposition of an atom or its nucleus.

alpha decay—gamma decay—fission decay—decay chain

Đồng nghĩa: nuclear decay—atomic decay

(uncountable, usually)(physics) Particle decay; decomposition of a sub-atomic particle.

(uncountable, usually)Continuous decrease of a quantity.

exponential decay—decay rate—orbital decay—decay time—decay constant—time decay

(obsolete, uncountable, usually)Overthrow, destruction, ruin, death.

(uncountable, usually)(programming) Array decay.

(intransitive)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)(intransitive, of organic material) To rot, to go bad.

The cat's body decayed rapidly.

(intransitive, transitive)(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; to undergo radioactive decay.

(intransitive, transitive)(intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) To undergo optical decay, that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.

(intransitive)(intransitive, aviation) Loss of airspeed due to drag.

(transitive)To cause to rot or deteriorate.

The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.

(intransitive)(programming, intransitive) Of an array: to lose its type and dimensions and be reduced to a pointer, for example when passed to a function.