(~s, degrading, ~d)
1.
Something that ~s someone causes people to have less respect for them.
...the notion that pornography ~s women...
When I asked him if he had ever been to a prostitute he said he wouldn’t ~ himself like that.
VERB: V n, V pron-refl
degrading
Mr Porter was subjected to a degrading strip-search.
= humiliating
ADJ
2.
To ~ something means to cause it to get worse. (FORMAL)
...the ability to meet human needs indefinitely without degrading the environment.
VERB: V n
3.
In science, if a substance ~s or if something ~s it, it changes chemically and decays or separates into different substances. (TECHNICAL)
This substance ~s rapidly in the soil.
...the ability of these enzymes to ~ cellulose.
= break down
VERB: V, V n