decommission

verb

de·​com·​mis·​sion ˌdē-kə-ˈmi-shən How to pronounce decommission (audio)
decommissioned; decommissioning; decommissions

transitive verb

: to remove (something, such as a ship or a nuclear power plant) from service

Examples of decommission in a Sentence

Several military bases are scheduled to be decommissioned. The government is decommissioning the nuclear power plant.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The White House also wants to decommission NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, a flagship telescope studying the exotic environments around black holes and supernovas. ArsTechnica, 11 June 2025 Musk meanwhile threatened to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft — which is currently the only U.S. choice for bringing crew to and from the International Space Station — before quickly walking back his statement. Ruxandra Iordache,sophie Kiderlin, CNBC, 11 June 2025 According to Bannon, if any other CEO threatened to decommission one of the rockets his company uses in its work with the government after a personal spat with a U.S. president — as Musk did last week — that executive would be fired. Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 10 June 2025 Amid an escalating feud between billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, Musk threatened to decommission the Dragon spacecraft. Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 6 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for decommission

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of decommission was in 1922

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Decommission.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decommission. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

decommission

verb
de·​com·​mis·​sion ˌdē-kə-ˈmish-ən How to pronounce decommission (audio)
: to remove (as a ship) from use or service

More from Merriam-Webster on decommission

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!