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Rust   /rəst/   Listen
noun
Rust  n.  
1.
(Chem.) The reddish yellow coating formed on iron when exposed to moist air, consisting of ferric oxide or hydroxide; hence, by extension, any metallic film of corrosion.
2.
(Bot.) A minute mold or fungus forming reddish or rusty spots on the leaves and stems of cereal and other grasses (Trichobasis Rubigo-vera), now usually believed to be a form or condition of the corn mildew (Puccinia graminis). As rust, it has solitary reddish spores; as corn mildew, the spores are double and blackish. Note: Rust is also applied to many other minute fungi which infest vegetation, such as the species of Ustilago, Uredo, and Lecythea.
3.
That which resembles rust in appearance or effects. Specifically:
(a)
A composition used in making a rust joint. See Rust joint, below.
(b)
Foul matter arising from degeneration; as, rust on salted meat.
(c)
Corrosive or injurious accretion or influence. "Sacred truths cleared from all rust and dross of human mixtures." Note: Rust is used in the formation of compounds of obvious meaning; as, rust-colored, rust-consumed, rust-eaten, and the like.
Rust joint, a joint made between surfaces of iron by filling the space between them with a wet mixture of cast-iron borings, sal ammoniac, and sulphur, which by oxidation becomes hard, and impervious to steam, water, etc.
Rust mite (Zool.), a minute mite (Phytopius oleivorus) which, by puncturing the rind, causes the rust-colored patches on oranges.


verb
Rust  v. t.  
1.
To cause to contract rust; to corrode with rust; to affect with rust of any kind. "Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them."
2.
Fig.: To impair by time and inactivity.


Rust  v. i.  (past & past part. rusted; pres. part. rusting)  
1.
To contract rust; to be or become oxidized. "If gold ruste, what shall iron do?" "Our armors now may rust."
2.
To be affected with the parasitic fungus called rust; also, to acquire a rusty appearance, as plants.
3.
Fig.: To degenerate in idleness; to become dull or impaired by inaction. "Must I rust in Egypt? never more Appear in arms, and be the chief of Greece?"





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Rust" Quotes from Famous Books



... work, a performance that has charmed, instructed, and ennobled the young hearts and minds of generation after generation for more than half a century, with a constantly increasing celebrity, all that has been attempted is to 'rub off a little of the rust of age,' or, in other words, to give the work a few such slight touches as Mr. Day might himself have been disposed to give it, had he lived at a period so justly fastidious as the present. The illustrations, too, will, it is presumed, ...
— The Swiss Family Robinson; or Adventures in a Desert Island • Johann David Wyss
... echoed Caracalla, and he pointed to a short sword which lay beside him on the couch. "That helped in the work. My father wielded it in many a fight, and I have not let it rust. Still, I doubt whether in my hands and his together it ever before yesterday slaughtered a ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers
... the rocks, and threw the plant of tangle at my feet. Something at the same moment rang sharply, like a falling coin. I stooped, and there, sure enough, crusted with the red rust, there lay an iron shoe-buckle. The sight of this poor human relic thrilled me to the heart, but not with hope nor fear, only with a desolate melancholy. I held it in my hand, and the thought of its owner appeared before ...
— The Merry Men - and Other Tales and Fables • Robert Louis Stevenson
... third division is filled with varieties of Egyptian mirrors, pins, combs, and sandals. The mirrors of the Egyptians consisted of circular metallic plates, with variously ornamented handles. The specimens in this case, which have lost their lustre under centuries of rust, include one with a lotus handle, ornamented with the Egyptian goddess of beauty, Athor; one with a tress of hair as a design for the handle: and others ornamented with the head of the much reverenced hawk. The pins are in bronze and wood, and were used by the Egyptian ladies either ...
— How to See the British Museum in Four Visits • W. Blanchard Jerrold
... have been tested and among them the Reading Giant, a rust-proof asparagus, has proved promising. Malcolm, the earliest Canadian sweet corn, ripened very early and will be tested further. Washington, a late sweet corn ripening between Crosby and Evergreen, made an exceptionally ...
— Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 • Various


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