DISINTEGRATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does disintegrate mean? 

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

1. break into parts or components or lose cohesion or unity

2. cause to undergo fission or lose particles

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

  Familiarity information: DISINTEGRATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISINTEGRATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they disintegrate    ... he / she / it disintegrates   
Past simple: disintegrated   
Past participle: disintegrated   
-ing form: disintegrating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break into parts or components or lose cohesion or unity

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

the group disintegrated after the leader died

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

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

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

powder; powderise; powderize; pulverise; pulverize (make into a powder by breaking up or cause to become dust)

powderise; powderize; pulverise; pulverize (become powder or dust)

run; unravel (become undone)

crumble; fall apart (break or fall apart into fragments)

digest (soften or disintegrate, as by undergoing exposure to heat or moisture)

dissolve (pass into a solution)

break apart; break up; crash (break violently or noisily; smash)

Sentence frames:

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

Antonym:

integrate (make into a whole or make part of a whole)

Derivation:

disintegration (separation into component parts)

disintegration (in a decomposed state)

disintegrative (tending to cause breakup into constituent elements or parts)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to undergo fission or lose particles

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Verb group:

decay; decompose; disintegrate (lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current)

Domain category:

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

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

disintegration (the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive substance along with the emission of ionizing radiation)

disintegrative (tending to cause breakup into constituent elements or parts)

Sense 3

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 "disintegrate" 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

Derivation:

disintegration (the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive substance along with the emission of ionizing radiation)

 Context examples 

Capecitabine rapidly disintegrating tablet (RDT) contains the water insoluble, disintegrating agent crospovidone which very rapidly disperses and swells in water making this RDT easier to swallow than the traditional capecitabine tablet.

(Capecitabine Rapidly Disintegrating Tablet, NCI Thesaurus)

A solid preparation containing one or more medicaments, usually in a flavored, sweetened base which is intended to dissolve or disintegrate slowly in the mouth.

(Lozenge Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A solid dosage form containing medicinal substances which disintegrates rapidly, usually within a matter of seconds, when placed upon the tongue.

(Orally Disintegrating Tablet Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A tablet which disintegrates and dissolves quickly (usually within a matter of seconds) in the mouth.

(Orally Disintegrating Tablet Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

Almost all asteroids of this size disintegrate in the atmosphere and are usually harmless.

(New Map Shows Frequency of Small Asteroid Impacts, Provides Clues on Larger Asteroid Population, NASA)

They investigated methods that can disintegrate and treat grass until it can be used as a fuel.

(Will We Soon Drive on ‘Grassoline’?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

As I dragged the mattress out of the bunk it seemed to disintegrate in mid-air, at the same time bursting into flames.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A new NASA study finds the last remaining section of Antarctica's Larsen B Ice Shelf, which partially collapsed in 2002, is quickly weakening and likely to disintegrate completely before the end of the decade.

(Antarctica’s Larsen B Ice Shelf Nearing Its Final Act, NASA)

A crumpled, disintegrated newspaper revealed itself as the Chicago Democrat, though the date had been obliterated.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A gigantic cavity - two-thirds the area of Manhattan and almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) tall - growing at the bottom of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is one of several disturbing discoveries reported in a new NASA-led study of the disintegrating glacier.

(Huge Cavity in Antarctic Glacier Signals Rapid Decay, NASA)