To pass gradually from a sound, prosperous, or perfect state, to one of imperfection, adversity, or dissolution; to waste away; to decline; to fail; to become weak, corrupt, or disintegrated; to rot; to perish; as, a tree decays; fortunes decay; hopes decay.
To cause to decay; to impair.
To destroy.
Gradual failure of health, strength, soundness, prosperity, or of any species of excellence or perfection; tendency toward dissolution or extinction; corruption; rottenness; decline; deterioration; as, the decay of the body; the decay of virtue; the decay of the Roman empire; a castle in decay.
Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind. Thomas Jefferson
I am against nature. I don't dig nature at all. I think nature is very unnatural. I think the truly natural things are dreams, which nature can't touch with decay. Bob Dylan
Political chaos is connected with the decay of language... one can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end. George Orwell
He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. Harold Wilson
A comfortable old age is the reward of a well-spent youth. Instead of its bringing sad and melancholy prospects of decay, it would give us hopes of eternal youth in a better world. Maurice Chevalier
