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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Decayed

Decay \De*cay"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Decayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Decaying.] [OF. decaeir, dechaer, decheoir, F. d['e]choir, to decline, fall, become less; L. de- + cadere to fall. See Chance.] 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.

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
--Goldsmith.

Decayed

Decayed \De*cayed"\, a. Fallen, as to physical or social condition; affected with decay; rotten; as, decayed vegetation or vegetables; a decayed fortune or gentleman. -- De*cay"ed*ness, n.

Wiktionary
decayed
  1. Having decayed. v

  2. (en-past of: decay)

WordNet
decayed
  1. adj. deteriorated by decay or rot; "decayed teeth"

  2. damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless; "rotten floor boards"; "rotted beams"; "a decayed foundation" [syn: rotten, rotted]

Usage examples of "decayed".

Visions of a workhouse infirmary for her child had haunted the old woman in the basement breakfast-room of the decayed Belgravian house.

I had finished Buttonhook, and Joanna was stepping back admiring the sparkle of the glass, I fetched the paint and began the tedious job of covering the patchwork of old decayed black paint and pale new putty with a bright green skin.

The Eloi, like the Carlovingian kings, had decayed to a mere beautiful futility.

In the first lot, my son examined seventeen bladders, including prey of some kind, and eight of these contained entomostracan crustaceans, three larvae of insects, one being still alive, and six remnants of animals so much decayed that their nature could not be distinguished.

Given the stagnation of the Empire the military middle class must have decayed in any case, but the spread of a shallow Leftism hastened the process.

Shake their gray hairs in the insulting wind, And follow in the dance, with limbs decayed, Seeking to reach the light which leaves them still Farther behind and deeper in the shade.

Two rickety but well-dusted tables were loaded with ancient nicknacks, dating from the early part of the second French Empire, with impossibly ugly little figures carved out of cheap alabaster, small decayed photograph albums, and ingeniously bad wax flowers under glass shades.

Unfortunately, by the time the IUPAC referees got there, the atoms were gone, decayed to hassium, seaborgium, and rutherfordium.

When the massive numbers of cadavers ahead stop it from moving any further forward, it again reacts violently, ripping and tearing at the decayed flesh which surrounds it on all sides until its path is clearer.

If Peter was keen on keeping up decayed traditions he would find plenty of opportunity by keeping to a pre-War standard of watermanship, manners and dress.

On an eminence, in one of the most sequestered parts of these woods, was a rustic seat, formed of the trunk of a decayed oak, which had once been a noble tree, and of which many lofty branches still flourishing united with beech and pines to over-canopy the spot.

In all cases the bladders with decayed remains swarmed with living Algae of many kinds, Infusoria, and other low organisms, which evidently lived as intruders.

In most of the bladders the captured animals are so much decayed that they form a pale brown, pulpy mass, with their chitinous coats so tender that they fall to pieces with the greatest ease.

On the other hand, in bladders containing either one large or several small decayed animals, the processes presented a widely different appearance.

Lined with cafes and cake shops, its tall shuttered buildings had an air of slightly decayed elegance.