DECOMPOSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does decompose mean? 

• DECOMPOSE (verb)
  The verb DECOMPOSE has 3 senses:

1. separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts

2. lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current

3. break down

  Familiarity information: DECOMPOSE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DECOMPOSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they decompose    ... he / she / it decomposes   
Past simple: decomposed   
Past participle: decomposed   
-ing form: decomposing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break down; break up; decompose

Hypernyms (to "decompose" is one way to...):

separate (divide into components or constituents)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "decompose"):

digest (soften or disintegrate by means of chemical action, heat, or moisture)

dissociate (to undergo a reversible or temporary breakdown of a molecule into simpler molecules or atoms)

crack (reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

decomposition ((chemistry) separation of a substance into two or more substances that may differ from each other and from the original substance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

decay; decompose; disintegrate

Context example:

the particles disintegrated during the nuclear fission process

Hypernyms (to "decompose" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Verb group:

disintegrate (cause to undergo fission or lose particles)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Break down

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

decompose; molder; moulder; rot

Context example:

The bodies decomposed in the heat

Hypernyms (to "decompose" is one way to...):

decay (undergo decay or decomposition)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "decompose"):

biodegrade (break down naturally through the action of biological agents)

hang (suspend (meat) in order to get a gamey taste)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s something

Derivation:

decomposition (the organic phenomenon of rotting)

decomposition ((biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action)

 Context examples 

If large amounts of undecayed matter were to defrost, decompose and release methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the impact on global temperatures would most likely be enormous.

(Alaska Shows No Signs of Rising Arctic Methane, NASA)

Or else it looked as if it had gradually decomposed into that nightmare condition, out of the overflowings of the polluted stream.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

As rising Arctic air temperatures cause permafrost to thaw, the organic material decomposes and releases its carbon to the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.

(Far Northern Permafrost May Unleash Carbon Within Decades, NASA)

These resultant atoms are made in small amounts, are generally unstable, and decompose into smaller components in periods of time less than a second.

(IUPAC proposes four new chemical element names, Wikinews)

The first, called selective preservation, suggests that some molecules of organic carbon may be difficult for microorganisms to break down, so they remain untouched in sediment even after others have decomposed.

(Carbon hides in sediment, keeping oxygen in atmosphere, National Science Foundation)

Its fundamental principle is that any physical system can be decomposed into a collection of simple independent local elements each of which interacts only with its immediate neighbors.

(Classical Mechanics, NCI Thesaurus)

Platinum decomposes hydrogen peroxide and powers propulsion of the donuts.

(Tiny swimming 'doughnuts' deliver the biomedical goods, National Science Foundation)

A clear, yellow, oily, liquid nitrosamine that decomposes when exposed to light and emits toxic fumes of nitrogen oxides when heated to decomposition.

(N-Nitrosopyrrolidine, NCI Thesaurus)

A pale yellow, crystalline solid nitrosamine that decomposes when exposed to light and emits toxic fumes of nitrogen oxides when heated to decomposition.

(N-Nitrososarcosine, NCI Thesaurus)

A volatile, combustible, yellow, oily liquid nitrosamine with a faint characteristic odor that decomposes when exposed to light and emits toxic fumes of nitrogen oxides when heated to decomposition.

(N-Nitrosodimethylamine, NCI Thesaurus)