From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Corrupt \Cor*rupt"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Corrupted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Corrupting}.]
1. To change from a sound to a putrid or putrescent state; to make putrid; to putrefy.
2. To change from good to bad; to vitiate; to deprave; to pervert; to debase; to defile.
Evil communications corrupt good manners. --1. Cor. xv. 33.
3. To draw aside from the path of rectitude and duty; as, to corrupt a judge by a bribe.
Heaven is above all yet; there sits a Judge That no king can corrupt. --Shak.
4. To debase or render impure by alterations or innovations; to falsify; as, to corrupt language; to corrupt the sacred text.
He that makes an ill use of it [language], though he does not corrupt the fountains of knowledge, . . . yet he stops the pines. --Locke.
5. To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt. --Matt. vi. 19.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: seducing into corrupt practices
2: harmful to the mind or morals; "corrupt judges and their corrupting influence"; "the vicious and degrading cult of violence" [syn: {degrading}]
3: that infects or taints [syn: {contaminating}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
38 Moby Thesaurus words for "corrupting": baleful, baneful, corroding, corrosive, corruptive, counterproductive, damaging, deadly, deleterious, detrimental, disadvantageous, disserviceable, distressing, eroding, erosive, harmful, hurtful, injurious, lethal, malefic, malevolent, malign, malignant, mischievous, noisome, noxious, ominous, pernicious, poisonous, prejudicial, scatheful, toxic, venenate, veneniferous, venenous, venomous, vicious, virulent
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