Meaning & use
corrosion resistance
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Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
The ability of a material to keep from being damaged or eaten away by chemical action, especially by rust or acids.
Grammar: No plural and no 'a'; it names a quality, so you can say 'high corrosion resistance' but not 'a corrosion resistance'.
Patterns
- corrosion resistance of something
- corrosion resistance to something
- good/high/poor corrosion resistance
- improve the corrosion resistance of something
Engineers chose stainless steel for the pipes because of its excellent corrosion resistance.
The new coating gives the bridge much better corrosion resistance against road salt.
Tests showed that the alloy's corrosion resistance drops sharply above 300 degrees.
noununcountabletechnical
The extent to which a material can survive contact with a particular substance without breaking down.
Grammar: Often followed by 'to' plus the substance: corrosion resistance to seawater, to acids, to steam.
Patterns
- corrosion resistance to something
- test something for corrosion resistance
- corrosion resistance in a particular environment
We tested the panels for corrosion resistance to seawater before approving them.
Aluminium has poor corrosion resistance in strongly alkaline conditions.
The report compares the corrosion resistance of three grades of steel in humid air.
Common combinations
- excellent corrosion resistance
- Titanium is popular in medical implants because of its excellent corrosion resistance.
- improve corrosion resistance
- Adding chromium to the mix improves corrosion resistance considerably.
- corrosion resistance to seawater
- The coating was developed for corrosion resistance to seawater.
- test for corrosion resistance
- Every batch is tested for corrosion resistance before it leaves the factory.
- corrosion-resistant (adjective)
- They installed corrosion-resistant bolts on the coastal platform.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rust resistance
- Narrower: it usually refers only to protection against rusting of iron and steel, while corrosion resistance covers acids, salts and other chemicals too.
- durability
- Much broader: it means lasting a long time in general, not specifically surviving chemical attack.
- chemical stability
- More scientific and neutral; it describes not reacting with other substances, which is often the reason a material has corrosion resistance.
Opposites
Word family
- corrode verb
- to destroy or damage a material slowly by chemical action
- corrosion noun
- the process by which a material is slowly eaten away by chemicals
- corrosive adjective
- describing a substance that can eat away metal, skin or other materials
- corrosion-resistant adjective
- made or treated so that it does not corrode easily
Commonly confused: corrosion resistance or erosion resistance? corrosion resistance or corrosion resistant?
corrosion resistance vs erosion resistance
Erosion is physical wearing away by wind, water or grit, while corrosion is a chemical process; a material can resist one and not the other.
corrosion resistance vs corrosion resistant
Spelling trap: the two-word noun phrase is 'corrosion resistance', but before a noun you use the hyphenated adjective 'corrosion-resistant', as in 'corrosion-resistant coating'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'corrosion resistance' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Corrosion resistance' is uncountable, so it takes no article and no plural: 'good corrosion resistance'. Option 0 wrongly adds 'a', option 2 wrongly makes it plural, and option 3 uses 'is' where the material, not the coating, would need to be the subject.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “corrosion resistance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.