See Also: rust(1)(dictionary)
Rust(medicine)
rust(2)(dictionary)
rust 1, noun(dictionary)
Rust Belt(dictionary)
blister rust(encyclopedia)
Rust's disease(medicine)
Rust bowl(finance)
Rust Belt(money)
Rust, Johann(medicine)

rust(1) (iou)



rust noun1 & verb.
[Old English rust = Old Saxon, Old & mod. High German rost, Middle & mod. Dutch roest, from Germanic base also of RED adjective.]
A. noun.
A reddish-brown or brownish-orange coating formed on iron or steel by oxidation, esp. due to contact with moisture; a similar coating formed on any other metal; any coating, stain, etc., resembling rust. OE.
H. Douglas The..wires..had become corroded by rust. D. Profumo A metal roof, eaten in places by rust.
fig. (A state of) deterioration or impairment, esp. due to inactivity or neglect. Also, inactivity, neglect; age. OE.
Sunday Express A tutor..after the long holidays..is to take a bit of the rust off.
b. Moral decline or decay; corruption, esp. of a specified kind. Long rare or obsolete. OE.
a. A reddish-brown discoloration of foliage; spec. any of various plant diseases caused by fungi of the class Urediniomycetes or of the unrelated genus Albugo, and characterized by dusty patches of various colours. Also rust disease. ME.
crown rust, stem rust, white rust, etc.
b. Any of various parasitic fungi causing rust in plants. Also rust fungus. E19.
The colour of rust; reddish-brown, brownish-orange. E18.
Lancashire Life This..jersey dress in a rich shade of rust.
Attrib. & comb.: In the sense 'of the colour of rust', as rust-brown, rust-red, rust-yellow, etc. Special combs., as rust-belt (chiefly US) a declining or inactive major industrial area, orig. spec. the steel-producing region of the American Midwest and North-East; rust bucket colloq. an old rusty ship, car, etc.; rust-coloured adjective of the colour of rust, reddish-brown, brownish-orange; rust disease: see sense 3a above; rust fungus: see sense 3b above; rust-resistance resistance to developing or forming rust; rust-resistant, rust-resisting adjectives (of a metal) made so as not to rust; (of a plant) not liable to rust disease.
b. verb.
a. verb intrans. Of metal, esp. iron or steel: develop or form rust, become rusty; oxidize. ME.
E. Wilson Gleaming suits of armor..rusting in the rain.
b. verb trans. Cause to develop or form rust. L16.
New Scientist A corrosive mist that rusted..aluminium.
c. verb intrans. fig. Become rust. rare (Shakes.). Only in L16.
a. verb intrans. Deteriorate or become spoiled, esp. through inactivity or neglect (freq. foll. by out). Also, become stuck, lodged, or fixed due to rust (freq. foll. by in, into, out, up). ME.
New Scientist Rusted-out tanks hold sentinel beside..fruit trees. M. Atwood I find the lid of an old maple syrup, the lid rusted shut.
b. verb trans. Waste away (oneself, one's life, etc.) through idleness. M19.
verb intrans. & (rare) trans. Become or make rust-coloured. M16.
P. Mortimer Early September..the leaves rusting.
verb trans. Make morally corrupt. Now rare. L17.
verb trans. & intrans. Affect or become affected with rust or blight. M18.
rusting adjective (a) causing rust; (b) becoming rusty, developing rust: M18.
rustless adjective (a) free from rust; (b) not susceptible to rust: M19.