decommission
verb
de·com·mis·sion
ˌdē-kə-ˈmi-shən 
decommissioned; decommissioning; decommissions
: 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
In January 2020, just weeks after the WTO’s Appellate Body was decommissioned, Indonesia moved to impose a ban on the export of raw nickel.
—
Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 12 July 2025
Before Florida’s Crystal River nuclear generating plant was decommissioned, there were emergency sirens, tested weekly, throughout Citrus County, north of Tampa.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 10 July 2025
Good as new, the USS New Orleans re-entered service until it was decommissioned in 1947, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 July 2025
In a fictional scenario, the researchers asked Anthropic’s Claude to act as an assistant and provided it access to internal emails that suggested it would soon be decommissioned, in addition to the knowledge that a supervisor was having an extramarital affair.
—Aytekin Tank, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for decommission
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.
Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 12 July 2025
Before Florida’s Crystal River nuclear generating plant was decommissioned, there were emergency sirens, tested weekly, throughout Citrus County, north of Tampa.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 10 July 2025
Good as new, the USS New Orleans re-entered service until it was decommissioned in 1947, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 July 2025
In a fictional scenario, the researchers asked Anthropic’s Claude to act as an assistant and provided it access to internal emails that suggested it would soon be decommissioned, in addition to the knowledge that a supervisor was having an extramarital affair.
—Aytekin Tank, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for decommission
Cite this Entry
“Decommission.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decommission. Accessed 26 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
decommission
verb
de·com·mis·sion
ˌdē-kə-ˈmish-ən
: to remove (as a ship) from use or service
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share