disintegrate

[ dis-in-tuh-greyt ]

verb (used without object)

, dis·in·te·grat·ed, dis·in·te·grat·ing.

1. to separate into parts or lose intactness or solidness; break up; deteriorate:

   The old book is gradually disintegrating with age.

2. Physics.
   1. to decay.
   2. (of a nucleus) to change into one or more different nuclei after being bombarded by high-energy particles, as alpha particles or gamma rays.

verb (used with object)

, dis·in·te·grat·ed, dis·in·te·grat·ing.

1. to reduce to particles, fragments, or parts; break up or destroy the cohesion of:

   Rocks are disintegrated by frost and rain.

disintegrate

/ dɪsˈɪntɪˌɡreɪt /

verb

1. to break or be broken into fragments or constituent parts; shatter
2. to lose or cause to lose cohesion or unity
3. intr to lose judgment or control; deteriorate
4. physics
   1. to induce or undergo nuclear fission, as by bombardment with fast particles
   2. another word for decay

Derived Forms

• disˈintegrable, adjective
• disˈinteˌgrator, noun
• disˈintegrative, adjective
• disˌinteˈgration, noun

Other Words From

• dis·in·te·gra·ble [dis-, in, -t, uh, -gr, uh, -b, uh, l], adjective
• dis·inte·grative dis·in·te·gra·to·ry [dis-, in, -t, uh, -gr, uh, -tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, -grey-t, uh, -ree], adjective
• dis·inte·grator noun
• nondis·inte·grating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of disintegrate¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; dis- ¹ + integrate

Synonym Study

See decay.

Example Sentences

At this point Marvin gives his Liberty Valance smile, the kind that makes you wish you could disintegrate in front of him.

From The Daily Beast

If life has left Mandela, does this mean we will disintegrate, too?

From The Daily Beast

The thriving democracy conjured up by prophets of unification can quickly disintegrate into tribal war.

From The Daily Beast

All of our hard work began to disintegrate in an instant, based on a decision the Marines and I had no input on whatsoever.

From The Daily Beast

Do we have a plan B if the Afghan Army starts to disintegrate?

From The Daily Beast

But the formation began to disintegrate as the weaker ones dropped behind, and no attempt was made to keep it.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the mass began to disintegrate, and savages staggered back and fell dead, or suffering from terrible wounds.

From Project Gutenberg

It seems that an atom of radium does actually disintegrate, and by disintegrating give out energy.

From Project Gutenberg

Starting toward North Carolina it continued to disintegrate, and reached the southern line of that State not over 6000 strong.

From Project Gutenberg

If cohesion ceased to be, then everything would fall to powder and would disintegrate.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• break down
• break up
• come apart
• crumble
• decay
• decompose
• degenerate
• descend
• disband
• dismantle
• rot
• sever
• shatter
• sink
• splinter
• wash out
• wither