1. (v. i.) To undergo a process common to organic substances by which they lose the cohesion of their parts and pass through certain chemical changes, giving off usually in some stages of the process more or less offensive odors; to become decomposed by a natural process; to putrefy; to decay.

2. (v. i.) Figuratively: To perish slowly; to decay; to die; to become corrupt.

3. (v. t.) To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber.

4. (v. t.) To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.

5. (n.) Process of rotting; decay; putrefaction.

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

7. (n.) 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.

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