rust

Definition of rust

15 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

(countable, uncountable)The deteriorated state of iron or steel as a result of moisture and oxidation; it consists mostly of iron(III) oxide (ferric oxide) and iron(II) oxide (ferrous oxide).

“The rust on my bicycle chain made cycling to work very dangerous.”

See all 15 definitions

noun

(countable, uncountable)The deteriorated state of iron or steel as a result of moisture and oxidation; it consists mostly of iron(III) oxide (ferric oxide) and iron(II) oxide (ferrous oxide).

“The rust on my bicycle chain made cycling to work very dangerous.”
(countable, uncountable)A similar substance based on another metal.

“copper rust”
(countable, uncountable)A reddish-brown color.
(countable, uncountable)A disease of plants caused by a reddish-brown fungus (Pucciniales).
(countable, uncountable)Damage caused to stamps and album pages by a fungal infection.

verb

(intransitive)To oxidize, especially of iron or steel.

“The patio furniture had rusted in the wind-driven spray.”
“Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.”
“The relegation of locomotives to storage seemed to be on a very unsystematic basis on all three principal Irish railways: while one member of a class was rusting in a yard, another might be hard at work in revenue-earning service—[…].”
(transitive)To cause to oxidize.

“The wind-driven spray had thoroughly rusted the patio furniture.”
(intransitive)To be affected with the parasitic fungus called rust.

“I am sorry to say that, contrary to the majority, I have to report that the forage rusted rather badly.”
(ambitransitive, figuratively)To (cause to) degenerate in idleness; to make or become dull or impaired by inaction.

“Must I rust in Egypt? never more / Appear in arms, and be the chief of Greece?”
(intransitive)Of a black cat or its fur, to turn rust-coloured following long periods of exposure to sunlight.

“It's very common for black cats to rust during the summer.”

name

(countable, uncountable)A surname.
(countable, uncountable)A township in Montmorency County, Michigan, United States.
(countable, uncountable)A municipality in Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
(countable, uncountable)A small city in Burgenland, Austria.
A multiparadigm programming language focused on safety, especially safe concurrency.

“In Rust, the compiler plays a gatekeeper role by refusing to compile code with these elusive bugs, including concurrency bugs.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English rust, rost, roust, from Old English rust, rūst (“rust”), from Proto-West Germanic *rust, from Proto-Germanic *rustaz (“rust”), from Proto-Indo-European *rudʰso- (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”). Cognate with…

See full etymology

From Middle English rust, rost, roust, from Old English rust, rūst (“rust”), from Proto-West Germanic *rust, from Proto-Germanic *rustaz (“rust”), from Proto-Indo-European *rudʰso- (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”). Cognate with Scots roust (“rust”), Saterland Frisian rust (“rust”), West Frisian roast (“rust”), Dutch roest (“rust”), German Rost (“rust”), Danish rust (“rust”), Swedish rost (“rust”), Norwegian rust, ryst (“rust”), Finnish ruoste, Estonian rooste. Related to red.

Anagrams of rust

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Words you can make from rust

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3-letter words

2 words

2-letter words

2 words

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