What is "dry rot"

Rot \Rot\, n.

1. Process of rotting; decay; putrefaction.

2. (Bot.) A disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi. See Bitter rot, Black rot, etc., below.

3. [Cf. G. rotz glanders.] A fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals. It is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder. See 1st Fluke, 2.

   His cattle must of rot and murrain die.
   --Milton.

   Bitter rot (Bot.), a disease of apples, caused by the fungus Gl[ae]osporium fructigenum.
   --F. L. Scribner.

   Black rot (Bot.), a disease of grapevines, attacking the leaves and fruit, caused by the fungus L[ae]stadia Bidwellii.
   --F. L. Scribner.

   Dry rot (Bot.) See under Dry.

   Grinder's rot (Med.) See under Grinder.

   Potato rot. (Bot.) See under Potato.

   White rot (Bot.), a disease of grapes, first appearing in whitish pustules on the fruit, caused by the fungus Coniothyrium diplodiella.
   --F. L. Scribner.

Dry \Dry\ (dr[imac]), a. [Compar. Drier; superl. Driest.] [OE. dru[yogh]e, druye, drie, AS. dryge; akin to LG. dr["o]ge, D. droog, OHG. trucchan, G. trocken, Icel. draugr a dry log. Cf. Drought, Drouth, 3d Drug.]

1. Free from moisture; having little humidity or none; arid; not wet or moist; deficient in the natural or normal supply of moisture, as rain or fluid of any kind; -- said especially:

   1. Of the weather: Free from rain or mist.

      The weather, we agreed, was too dry for the season.
      --Addison.

   2. Of vegetable matter: Free from juices or sap; not succulent; not green; as, dry wood or hay.

   3. Of animals: Not giving milk; as, the cow is dry.

   4. Of persons: Thirsty; needing drink.

      Give the dry fool drink. -- Shak

   5. Of the eyes: Not shedding tears.

      Not a dry eye was to be seen in the assembly. -- Prescott.

   6. (Med.) Of certain morbid conditions, in which there is entire or comparative absence of moisture; as, dry gangrene; dry catarrh.

2. Destitute of that which interests or amuses; barren; unembellished; jejune; plain.

   These epistles will become less dry, more susceptible of ornament.
   --Pope.

3. Characterized by a quality somewhat severe, grave, or hard; hence, sharp; keen; shrewd; quaint; as, a dry tone or manner; dry wit.

   He was rather a dry, shrewd kind of body.
   --W. Irving.

4. (Fine Arts) Exhibiting a sharp, frigid preciseness of execution, or the want of a delicate contour in form, and of easy transition in coloring. Dry area (Arch.), a small open space reserved outside the foundation of a building to guard it from damp. Dry blow.

   1. (Med.) A blow which inflicts no wound, and causes no effusion of blood.

   2. A quick, sharp blow. Dry bone (Min.), Smithsonite, or carbonate of zinc; -- a miner's term. Dry castor (Zo["o]l.) a kind of beaver; -- called also parchment beaver. Dry cupping. (Med.) See under Cupping. Dry dock. See under Dock. Dry fat. See Dry vat (below). Dry light, pure unobstructed light; hence, a clear, impartial view. --Bacon. The scientific man must keep his feelings under stern control, lest they obtrude into his researches, and color the dry light in which alone science desires to see its objects. -- J. C. Shairp. Dry masonry. See Masonry. Dry measure, a system of measures of volume for dry or coarse articles, by the bushel, peck, etc. Dry pile (Physics), a form of the Voltaic pile, constructed without the use of a liquid, affording a feeble current, and chiefly useful in the construction of electroscopes of great delicacy; -- called also Zamboni's, from the names of the two earliest constructors of it. Dry pipe (Steam Engine), a pipe which conducts dry steam from a boiler. Dry plate (Photog.), a glass plate having a dry coating sensitive to light, upon which photographic negatives or pictures can be made, without moistening. Dry-plate process, the process of photographing with dry plates. Dry point. (Fine Arts)

      1. An engraving made with the needle instead of the burin, in which the work is done nearly as in etching, but is finished without the use acid.

      2. A print from such an engraving, usually upon paper.

   3. Hence: The needle with which such an engraving is made.

      Dry rent (Eng. Law), a rent reserved by deed, without a clause of distress.
      --Bouvier.

      Dry rot, a decay of timber, reducing its fibers to the condition of a dry powdery dust, often accompanied by the presence of a peculiar fungus ( Merulius lacrymans), which is sometimes considered the cause of the decay; but it is more probable that the real cause is the decomposition of the wood itself.
      --D. C. Eaton. Called also sap rot, and, in the United States, powder post.
      --Hebert.

      Dry stove, a hothouse adapted to preserving the plants of arid climates.
      --Brande & C.

      Dry vat, a vat, basket, or other receptacle for dry articles.

      Dry wine, that in which the saccharine matter and fermentation were so exactly balanced, that they have wholly neutralized each other, and no sweetness is perceptible; -- opposed to sweet wine, in which the saccharine matter is in excess.

n. 1 The crumbly, friable decayed portions of wooden members of buildings, especially at or below grade, usually caused by a fungal infection. 2 Metaphorically, a progressive malaise of decay, corruption, or datedness. 3 A fungal infection which affects plants, in particular potatoes.

1. n. a crumbling and drying of timber or bulbs or potatoes or fruit caused by a fungus

2. a fungus causing dry rot

Dry rot is wood decay caused by certain species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resulted in a darkly colored deteriorated and cracked condition.

The life-cycle of dry rot can be broken down into four main stages. Dry rot begins as a microscopic spore which, in high enough concentrations, can resemble a fine orange dust. If the spores are subjected to sufficient moisture they will begin to grow fine white strands known as hyphae. As the hyphae germinate they will eventually form a large mass known as mycelium. The final stage is a fruiting body which pumps new spores out into the surrounding air.

In other fields, the term has been applied to the decay of crop plants by fungi and the deterioration of rubber.

Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount and Sid James.

The story is an adaptation of a 1954 Whitehall farce by John Chapman who also wrote the screenplay, in which the sketchy story plays second fiddle to the quick-paced action and unlikely situations. The plot concerns the practice of illicit gambling which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time.

Three dodgy bookies, Alf Tubbe (Ronald Shiner), Flash Harry (Sidney James) and Fred Phipps (Brian Rix), plan to rig a horse race by kidnapping the fancied horse and its French jockey. They stay at a country house hotel near the racecourse, run by Colonel and Mrs Wagstaff, where they conceal the horse Sweet Lavender (and later the jockey) in a hidden cellar.

A subplot sees the dimwitted Fred fall in love with the hotel chambermaid Beth ( Joan Sims).

The title Dry Rot refers to the rotten wood on the hotel stairs, which regularly catches every character unawares.