disintegrate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to separate into parts or lose intactness or solidness; break up; deteriorate.
The old book is gradually disintegrating with age.
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Physics.
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to decay.
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(of a nucleus) to change into one or more different nuclei after being bombarded by high-energy particles, as alpha particles or gamma rays.
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verb (used with object)
verb
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to break or be broken into fragments or constituent parts; shatter
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to lose or cause to lose cohesion or unity
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(intr) to lose judgment or control; deteriorate
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physics
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to induce or undergo nuclear fission, as by bombardment with fast particles
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another word for decay
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Related Words
See decay.
Other Word Forms
- disintegrable adjective
- disintegration noun
- disintegrative adjective
- disintegrator noun
- disintegratory adjective
- nondisintegrating adjective
Etymology
Origin of disintegrate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The former, which Miller once considered calling “The Inside of His Head,” is fluidly constructed, playing fast and loose with time as it tracks the disintegrating mental life of down-and-out salesman Willy Loman.
From Los Angeles Times
Before it began to disintegrate, K1 was likely slightly larger than a typical comet, measuring about 5 miles across.
From Science Daily
Scientists are warning that glaciers in the Austrian Alps are not just shrinking, but are disintegrating, because of climate change.
From BBC
What’s Next: If data disintegrates, however, Waller said he would vote to cut, calling the choice “close to a coin flip.”
From Barron's
But if data disintegrates, he said, he would vote in favor of a cut.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
