irradiate

American  

[ih-rey-dee-eyt, ih-rey-dee-it, -eyt] / ɪˈreɪ diˌeɪt, ɪˈreɪ di ɪt, -ˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

irradiated, irradiating

1. to shed rays of light upon; illuminate.

2. to illumine intellectually or spiritually.

3. to brighten as if with light.

4. to radiate (light, illumination, etc.).

5. to heat with radiant energy.

6. to treat by exposure to radiation, as of ultraviolet light.

7. to expose to radiation.

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verb (used without object)

irradiated, irradiating

1. Archaic.

   1. to emit rays; shine.

   2. to become radiant.

adjective

1. irradiated; bright.

irradiate British  

/ ɪˈreɪdɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) physics to subject to or treat with light or other electromagnetic radiation or with beams of particles

2. (tr) to expose (food) to electromagnetic radiation to kill bacteria and retard deterioration

3. (tr) to make clear or bright intellectually or spiritually; illumine

4. a less common word for radiate

5. obsolete (intr) to become radiant

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irradiate Scientific  

/ ĭ-rā′dē-āt′ /

1. To expose to or treat with radiation. For example, meat sold as food is often irradiated with x-rays or other radiation to kill bacteria; uranium 238 can be irradiated with neutrons to create fissionable plutonium 239.

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Other Word Forms

• irradiatingly adverb
• irradiative adjective
• irradiator noun
• nonirradiated adjective
• unirradiated adjective
• unirradiative adjective

Etymology

Origin of irradiate

1595–1605; < Latin irradiātus, past participle of irradiāre to shine upon. See ir- ¹, radiate

Example Sentences

Instead of using cobalt or other radioactive materials, Wilson’s team uses an X-ray machine to irradiate the pests.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2024

"First, we irradiate the alloy with a strong laser pulse, which magnetizes the material," explains Theo Pflug.

From Science Daily • Dec. 7, 2023

Inexplicable fires first obliterate Japanese freighters and irradiate fish, a ripped-from-the-headlines echo of the Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident—a Japanese tuna ship showered in radioactive fallout from the Castle Bravo thermonuclear test at Bikini Atoll.

From Scientific American • Nov. 3, 2023

Iran would irradiate uranium silicide pellets in the reactor to produce medical isotopes, primarily molybdenum-99.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 15, 2021

All his work since then had culminated in a factory that could irradiate two hundred tons of uranium at a time to produce a half pound of plutonium every two hundred days.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik