rotting wood
Soft, crumbling lumber
Rotting wood is wood in the process of decomposition, breaking down from the action of fungi, moisture, and bacteria.
The term describes both the material and its condition—soft, crumbling, often discolored timber that has lost structural integrity: The porch collapsed from rotting wood.
Rotting wood signals neglect in buildings but sustains entire ecosystems in forests.
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- fungusSpore-bearing organism
- mossSpore-bearing ground cover
- dampSlightly wet
- crumblingBreaking down gradually
dry rot · mushrooms · decomposition · bark · termites · mulch · forest floor · fallen tree · mold · soft · earthy · beetles · spores · hollow · punky · wet · logs · nurse log
- forest debrisdead leaves, twigs, pine needles, fallen logs, rotting logs
- foresttrees, pine, oak, leaves, branches
- decayrot, decay rate, wilt, crumble, decomposition
- forest floorfallen leaves, leaf litter, dead leaves, rotting logs, pine needles
- Organic Matterblood, bone, tissue, cells, skin
- forest scentspine, cedar, moss, earth, bark
rots, rotted, rotten, rottenness, rottenly, wood, woods, wooded, wooden