Degradation (redirected from Degredation)

degradation [‚deg·rə′dā·shən]

(computer science)

Condition under which a computer operates when some area of memory or some units of peripheral equipment are not available to the user.

(geology)

The wearing down of the land surface by processes of erosion and weathering.

(hydrology)

Lowering of a stream bed.

Shrinkage or disappearance of permafrost.

(organic chemistry)

Conversion of an organic compound to one containing a smaller number of carbon atoms.

(physics)

Loss of energy of a particle, such as a neutron or photon, through a collision.

(thermodynamics)

The conversion of energy into forms that are increasingly difficult to convert into work, resulting from the general tendency of entropy to increase.

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degradation

Disintegration of a paint film by heat, moisture, sunlight, or natural causes.

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Degradation 

in biology, the simplification in structure and function of animals or plants under the influence of conditions of existence that have altered. Distinction is made between ontogenetic degradation—that is, simplification of the organism in the final stages of its development as compared with the initial stages—and phylogenetic degradation, or simplification of the structure of descendants as compared with the organization of their ancestors.