Library / English Dictionary

RUST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various fungi causing rust disease in plants

Synonyms:

rust; rust fungus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("rust" is a kind of...):

fungus (an organism of the kingdom Fungi lacking chlorophyll and feeding on organic matter; ranging from unicellular or multicellular organisms to spore-bearing syncytia)

Meronyms (parts of "rust"):

aecium (fruiting body of some rust fungi bearing chains of aeciospores)

aeciospore (spore of a rust fungus formed in an aecium)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rust"):

flax rust; flax rust fungus; Melampsora lini (fungus causing flax rust)

blister rust; Cronartium ribicola (fungus causing white pine blister rust and having a complex life cycle requiring a plant of genus Ribes as alternate host)

Puccinia graminis; wheat rust (rust fungus that attacks wheat)

apple rust; cedar-apple rust; Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae (rust fungus causing rust spots on apples and pears etc)

Holonyms ("rust" is a member of...):

order Uredinales; Uredinales (rust fungi: parasitic fungi causing rust in plants; sometimes placed in)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water

Synonyms:

rust; rusting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("rust" is a kind of...):

corroding; corrosion; erosion (erosion by chemical action)

oxidation; oxidisation; oxidization (the process of oxidizing; the addition of oxygen to a compound with a loss of electrons; always occurs accompanied by reduction)

Meronyms (substance of "rust"):

ferric oxide (a red oxide of iron)

Derivation:

rust (become coated with oxide)

rust (become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid)

rust (cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A plant disease that produces a reddish-brown discoloration of leaves and stems; caused by various rust fungi

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("rust" is a kind of...):

plant disease (a disease that affects plants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rust"):

blister rust; white-pine rust; white pine blister rust (any of several diseases of pines caused by rust fungi of the genus Cronartium and marked by destructive invasion of bark and sapwood and producing blisters externally)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("rust" is a kind of...):

ferric oxide (a red oxide of iron)

Meronyms (substance of "rust"):

goethite; gothite (a red or yellow or brown mineral; an oxide of iron that is a common constituent of rust)

Derivation:

rust (become coated with oxide)

rust (become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid)

rust (cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid)

rusty (of the brown color of rust)

rusty (covered with or consisting of rust)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of the brown color of rust

Synonyms:

rust; rust-brown; rusty

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become coated with oxide

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "rust" is one way to...):

oxidate; oxidise; oxidize (enter into a combination with oxygen or become converted into an oxide)

Verb group:

oxidate; oxidise; oxidize (add oxygen to or combine with oxygen)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

rust (the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water)

rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid

Example:

The pipes rusted

Synonyms:

corrode; rust

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "rust" is one way to...):

crumble; decay; dilapidate (fall into decay or ruin)

Verb group:

corrode; eat; rust (cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rust"):

eat away; fret (wear away or erode)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

These cars won't rust

Derivation:

rust (the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water)

rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid

Example:

The steady dripping of water rusted the metal stopper in the sink

Synonyms:

corrode; eat; rust

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "rust" is one way to...):

damage (inflict damage upon)

Verb group:

corrode; rust (become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

rust (the formation of reddish-brown ferric oxides on iron by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water)

rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The greens and blues of antibacterial clays come from having a high content of chemically reduced iron, as opposed to oxidized iron, which provides the familiar rust color associated with many clays.

(Scientists discover how blue and green clays kill bacteria, NSF)

It was a linen bag which contained within it a mass of old rusted and discoloured metal and several dull-coloured pieces of pebble or glass.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These include: • Oven and drain cleaners • Laundry powder • Floor polish • Paint thinners, strippers and removers • Pesticides • Grease and rust removers • Motor oil and fuel additives • Arts and craft supplies

(Household Products, Environmental Protection Agency)

The dog has a white blaze on the chest, white on the head and toes, and rust markings over each eye, on the cheeks, sides of the chest, under the tail and on each leg.

(Bernese Mountain Dog, NCI Thesaurus)

Sometimes of an evening, when I looked up from my writing, and saw her seated opposite, I would lean back in my chair, and think how queer it was that there we were, alone together as a matter of course—nobody's business any more—all the romance of our engagement put away upon a shelf, to rust—no one to please but one another—one another to please, for life.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

One is not even made wet by the rain nor cold by the frost; while death, instead of stalking about grewsome and accidental, becomes a prearranged pageant, moving along a well-oiled groove to the family vault, where the hinges are kept from rusting and the dust from the air is swept continually away.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A team of Indian scientists has developed a compound from the leaf of the mango (Mangifera indica) tree that can protect ships from rusting and which is far more efficient than synthetic paints while also being non-toxic and environment-friendly.

(Mango leaf extract can stop ships from rusting, SciDev.Net)

The rusted gates between the crumbling heraldic pillars were folded back, and my uncle flicked the mares impatiently as we flew up the weed-grown avenue, until he pulled them on their haunches before the time-blotched steps.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"For," he said, "if I should get caught in the rain, and rust again, I would need the oil-can badly."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

In this space lay a large and heavy flagstone with a rusted iron ring in the centre to which a thick shepherd’s-check muffler was attached.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)