corrumptiont

[ME. corrumpcioun, an erroneous form of corruption, after corrump.] Corruption. The elementes alle sal be clene Of alle corrumpciouns that we here se. Hampole , Prick of Conscience, 1. 6352. corrupt corrupt (ko-rupt'), v. [ corrupten , cor up ten, L. corrupt us , conruptus , pp. of corrumpere , conrumpere, destroy, destroy, ruin, injure, spoil, corrupt, bribe, com-, together, together, Trumpere, break in pieces: see rupture. Cf. corrump.] I. trans . 11. To injure; mar; spoil; destroy. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt . Mat. vi. 19. 2. To vitiate physically; render unsound; taint or contaminate as with disease; decompose: as, to corrupt the blood. Some there were that died presently after they got ashore, it being certainly the quality of the place either to kill, or cure quickly, as the bodies are more or le e cor rupted. Quoted in Capt . John Smith's True Travels, II. 156. 3. To change from a sound to a putrid or putrescent state; cause the decomposition of (an Conversation will not corrupt us, if we come to the as of health to select what is ours and reject what is not. Emerson , Society and Solitude. Plenty corrupts the melody That made thee famous once, when young. Tennyson, The Blackbird. 5. To pervert or vitiate the integrity of; entice from allegiance, or from a good to an evil course of conduct; influence by a bribe or other wrong motive. Heaven is above all yet; there sits a Judge That no king can corrupt . Shak ., Hen. VIII., iii. 1. The guards, corrupted , arm themselves against Their late protected master, Fletcher, Double Marriage, v. 2. The money which the King received from France had been largely employed to corrupt members of Parliament. Macaulay , Hallam's Const. Hist. 6. To debase or render impure by alterations or innovations; infect with imperfections or errors; falsify; pervert: as, to corrupt language; to corrupt a text. IMG:content-1357.png:[blocks in formation] Knolles. Corrupt and pestilent bread. 2. Debased in character; depraved; perverted; infected with evil. They are corrupt; they have done abominable works. Ps. xiv. 1. At what ease Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt To swear against you? Shak., Hen. VIII., v. 1. The word corrupt means broken together, di olved into mixture and confusion - which is the opposite of purity. Bushnell , Sermons for New Life, p. 265. 3. Dishonest; without integrity; guilty of dishonesty involving bribery, or a disposition to bribe or be bribed: as, corrupt practices; a cor rupt judge. If political power must be denied to working men because they are corrupt , it must be denied to all cla es whatever for the same reason. H. Spencer , Social Statics, p. 248. 4. Changed for the worse; debased or falsified by admixture, addition, or alteration; erroneous or full of errors: as, a corrupt text. Of the Ma acre of Paris (of which only a single early edition exists, in a corrupt condition and without date) it is unnece ary to say much. One who or that A. W. Ward, Eng. Dram. Lit., I. 192. Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, a British statute of 1883 (46 and 47 Vict., c. 51) intended to secure the purity of elections to Parliament. corrupter (ko-rup'tėr), n. which corrupts. Also written corruptor . They knew them to be the main corruptors at the king's elbow. Milton , Eikon ok las tes. [ corrupt + -ful, corruptful (ko-rupt'ful), a. irreg. suffixed to a verb.] Tending to corrupt; corrupt; corrupting; vitiating. [Rare.] Boasting of this honourable borough to support its own dignity and independency against all corruptful encroach ments. J. Baillie .