heartrot
/ˈhɑrtˌrɑt/
noun
- A disease in trees and plants that causes the inner wood to decay, often making the tree weak or hollow.
- Farmers check for heartrot in fruit trees to prevent the disease from spreading.
- The old oak tree was felled because heartrot had made its trunk unsafe.
- Heartrot can be caused by fungi that enter through wounds in the bark.
- A figurative term for moral decay or corruption at the core of a person, group, or society.
- The novel explores the heartrot beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect town.
- The scandal revealed a heartrot in the company's leadership that had been hidden for years.
- Many believe that greed is a kind of heartrot that slowly destroys communities.