popopopo
1. (verb) (-tia) to be rotten, decayed, worm-eaten, dissolved.
Ka taka te kurī rānei, te manu rānei ki roto ki aua puna, e kore o roa ka pirau ka popopopo ngā wheua o aua kurī me aua manu (TW 27/4/1878:190). / When dogs or birds fall into those pools, before long the bones of those dogs and birds rot and dissolve.
Synonyms: kurupopo, pūmaoa, kurupōpopo, popo, tipoko, pirau, piro, pōpopo
2. (modifier) rotten, decayed, worm-eaten, dissolved.
Ki tōna whakaaro he kakau witi te rino, he rākau popopopo te parāhi (PT Hopa 41:27). / He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
3. (noun) anything rotten, something decayed.
Ka kite te wahine rā i te toroa, ka karanga atu, "Kāhore he popopopo mea e tataka mai nā?" (MM.TKM 1/2/1855:27). / That woman saw an albatross, and called out, "Have you not seen decaying things heaped up here?"
