rusting

verb

present participle of rust
as in rotting
to form rust The old car was left to rust in the yard of the abandoned house.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rusting The rusting hull — once a famed vessel known as the Slovenian — surfaced earlier this month from the Sava River near the Serbian town of Sremska Mitrovica, 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of the capital of Belgrade. — ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026 The rusting hull — once a famed vessel known as the Slovenian — surfaced earlier this month from the Sava River near the Serbian town of Sremska Mitrovica, 45 miles northwest of the capital of Belgrade. — CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 Contractors will complicate Route 9 traffic for two and a half years to save a rusting swing bridge that’s used solely by freight trains — and only about twice a week, critics said. — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 7 Aug. 2026 Because sometime soon, Caltrans will replace my aging, slightly rusting fixation with a brand new shiny sign. — Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026 The dramatic reappearance of the rusting wrecks has become one of the most striking visual reminders of both Europe’s wartime history and the severe drought currently gripping much of the continent. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 4 Aug. 2026 Today, the city’s Ferris wheel and bumper cars sit rusting untouched, the surrounding apartment blocks standing hollowed out by looters and the natural decay of time passed while trees push through the pavement where playgrounds once stood. — Kieron Marchese, Architectural Digest, 27 July 2026 Dax Poprawski, whose relatives work in the business, was sorry to see that the track had been reduced to a skeleton of itself, with rusting, exposed steel beams and weeds growing around it. — Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 25 July 2026 Why Rust Stains Keep Appearing Despite its name, rust stains don’t necessarily mean your toilet is rusting. — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 16 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rusting
  1. rotting
  2. decomposing
  3. decaying
  4. corroding
Verb
  • Its paint was peeling, clapboards were rotting, and a tarp covered a leaking roof, according to the Times.
    — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Those ailing leaves can be a sign of deeper problems such as rotting roots or a bug infestation, though sometimes, a yellowing leaf is just part of a monstera’s natural aging process.
    — Leanne Potts, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of rotting
Verb
  • But the last inspection was in October, 10 months before dozens of decomposing bodies were found at the South Chicago Chapel funeral home.
    — Megan De Mar, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • And just over a year after that, the Morgans landed back in the news after authorities found 56 decomposing corpses inside another one of their businesses, South Deering’s South Chicago Chapel.
    — Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of decomposing
Verb
  • Call to action In September 2025, NASA put out a call to action to save Swift, whose orbit was decaying quickly due to high solar activity.
    — Leonard David, Space.com, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The $30-million mission aimed to raise Swift from a rapidly decaying orbit worsened by intense solar activity, preserving a telescope that spent two decades tracking cosmic explosions.
    — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of decaying
Verb
  • At these temperatures, the molten salt remains chemically stable but begin corroding the metal used to build the reactor vessel, posing a major safety risk.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 14 July 2026
  • The company is accused of knowing that its sprinkler system was corroding and that emergency repairs to some sprinkler heads had been completed just days before the chemical reaction.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 23 June 2026
Definition of corroding

Browse Nearby Words

rustics
rusting
rustle
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rusting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rusting. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All