denitrify

[ dee-nahy-truh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

, de·ni·tri·fied, de·ni·tri·fy·ing.

1. Chemistry, Biology. to reduce (nitrates) to nitrites, ammonia, ammonium compounds, and free atmospheric nitrogen, as in soil by bacteria or other microbes.
2. Chemistry. to remove nitrogen or nitrogen compounds from.

denitrify

/ diːˈnaɪtrɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to undergo or cause to undergo loss or removal of nitrogen compounds or nitrogen

Derived Forms

• deˌnitrifiˈcation, noun

Other Words From

• de·ni·tri·fi·ca·tion [dee-nahy-tr, uh, -fi-, key, -sh, uh, n] noun
• de·ni·tri·fi·er de·ni·tri·fi·ca·tor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of denitrify¹

First recorded in 1890–95; de- + nitrify

Example Sentences

Nick Meier, a farmer in La Porte City, has received grant support in converting 5 acres to wetlands, and has installed a denitrifying bioreactor and cover crops.

From Washington Times

Meier seems delighted with his denitrifying bioreactor, as the gizmo is called: It functions properly, it robs him of very little cultivatable space, and it was funded by a state environmental program.

From National Geographic

They also are developing water quality strategies that call for installing tens of thousands of denitrifying bioreactors to help reach those targets.

From Time

In anammox bacteria, there is a giant vacuole, or bag, called an annamoxosome where the denitrifying reactions — i.e., eating and breathing for the bacterium — transpire.

From Scientific American

In the eastern tropical South Pacific, N:P is low because denitrifying bacteria remove nitrogen without also removing phosphorus.

From New York Times