3 entries under this word

Corrupt

Cor-rŭpt', v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. CORRUPTED; p. pr. & vb. n. CORRUPTING.] [Lat. corrumpere, corruptum, from con and rumpere, to break; Fr. corrompre, Pr. corrompre, corrumpre, Sp. & Pg. corrumper, It. corrompere.]

  1. To change from a sound to a putrid or putrescent state; to separate the component parts of, by a natural process accompanied by a fetid smell; to make putrid; to putrefy.
  2. To change from good to bad; to vitiate; to deprave; to pervert; to debase; to defile; to entice; to bribe.

Evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Cor. xv. 33. Heaven is above all yet; there sits a Judge That no king can corrupt. Shak. He that makes an ill use of it [language], though he does not corrupt the fountains of knowledge, . . . yet he stops the pipes. Locke.

Cor-rŭpt', v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To become putrid or tainted; to putrefy; to rot. Bacon. 2. To become vitiated; to lose purity.

Cor-rŭpt′, a.

adjective

a. [Lat. corruptus, p. p. of corrumpere; Sp. corrupto, It. corrotto.] 1. Changed from a sound to a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound. “Corrupt and pestilent bread.” Knolles. Vapor, and mist, and exhalation hot, Corrupt and pestilent. Milton. 2. Changed from a state of uprightness, correctness, truth, or the like, to a worse state; vitiated; depraved; debased; perverted; as, corrupt language; a corrupt text, as of a manuscript; corrupt judges. At what ease Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt To swear against you. Shak.