decontaminate

[ dee-kuhn-tam-uh-neyt ]

verb (used with object)

, de·con·tam·i·nated, de·con·tam·i·nat·ing.

1. to make (an object or area) safe for unprotected personnel by removing, neutralizing, or destroying any harmful substance, as radioactive material or poisonous gas.
2. to make free of contamination; purify:

   to decontaminate a sickroom.

decontaminate

/ ˌdiːkənˈtæmɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. tr to render (an area, building, object, etc) harmless by the removal, distribution, or neutralization of poisons, radioactivity, etc

Derived Forms

• ˌdeconˈtamiˌnator, noun
• ˌdeconˈtaminative, adjective
• ˌdeconˈtaminant, noun
• ˌdeconˌtamiˈnation, noun

Other Words From

• decon·tami·nation noun
• decon·tami·native adjective
• decon·tami·nator noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of decontaminate¹

First recorded in 1935–40; de- + contaminate

Example Sentences

A more effective air disinfection strategy is to rapidly decontaminate the air within the room where person-to-person transmission occurs.

From Time

Some successfully decontaminated N95s in laboratory settings by using heat, boiling water, or hydrogen peroxide spray.

From Popular-Science

Pincus devotes several chapters to subsequent efforts by the government and Congress to compensate the Marshallese, as well as the several failed attempts to decontaminate their islands.

From Washington Post

Here, a bubbling tank of near-freezing water and chemicals decontaminates the birds and reduces their temperature to limit bacterial growth.

From ProPublica

Masks that can’t be washed, like respirators, can be left out in the sun for an hour to be decontaminated, Marr says.

From Time

That authorities are “doing our best” to decontaminate the area, shut down the plant, and return lives to normal.

From The Daily Beast

For the next three months, workers labored around the clock to decontaminate the site of deadly plutonium.

From The Daily Beast

Tony Blair managed to decontaminate the losing Labour brand in 1994 by rechristening his party “ New Labour.”

From The Daily Beast

He needed to, in his phrase, “decontaminate the Conservative Party brand.”

From The Daily Beast

He says that it really was essential to decontaminate the Tory brand.

From The Daily Beast

They want our planets, and they didn't want to have to decontaminate them when they took them over.

From Project Gutenberg

Nobody's had time to decontaminate this whole planet like they did Earth.

From Project Gutenberg

A few essential manufactures had also been revived, mostly in the form of machine shops to decontaminate engine parts.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cleanse
• disinfect
• fumigate
• sanitize
• sterilize