Crossword Genius

Gets in a bad state (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rots

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'gets' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to bodily activities as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'a bad state' is the wordplay.
'a bad' becomes 'rot' (I've seen this before).
'state' becomes 's' (this might be a standard abbreviation of which I'm unaware).
'rot'+'s'='ROTS'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rots that I've seen before include "Decays" , "Decomposes" .)

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app