as in to disintegrate
to go through decomposition
detectives needed to know how long it would take a corpse to decompose to that advanced state
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in decay
the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances
the unmistakable smell of decomposition led us to some fruit that had fallen behind the refrigerator
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Recent Examples of decompose
Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 29 Aug. 2025
Woolf's remains were found unclothed and partially decomposed near the San Joaquin trailhead in Tucson in December 2024.
—Wren Smetana, AZCentral.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Aug. 2025
However, many SSDs include extra space to allow for decomposition over time.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decompose
Verb
Investigators found 189 decomposing bodies stored at room temperature at the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose in 2023 and charged owners Jon and Carie Hallford with abuse of a corpse, theft and forgery.
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 29 Aug. 2025
Woolf's remains were found unclothed and partially decomposed near the San Joaquin trailhead in Tucson in December 2024.
—Wren Smetana, AZCentral.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Noun
The sheriff's office said more forensic testing is needed before a positive identification can be made due to the advanced state of decomposition.
—Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Aug. 2025
However, many SSDs include extra space to allow for decomposition over time.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decompose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decompose
Verb
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Before flight 10, Starship's most recent demonstration came on May 27, when the spacecraft spun out of control roughly halfway through its flight and disintegrated in a fireball.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
28 Aug. 2025
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The situation quickly disintegrated as Joseph Gerber, 45, who had an outstanding felony warrant, fired first and wounded Mancera.—
Jim Woods,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Exposure to warm, humid air and bugs in the outdoors will speed up the decay even more.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
7 Sep. 2025
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The quest has led us down many theoretically interesting avenues, spawning ideas like extra dimensions, supersymmetry, proton decay, string theory, and many others.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Kotevska turns her camera on agonizing scenes of Nikola and his family all but abandoning their potatoes, along with watermelon and other crops, and leaving them to rot because selling them makes no sense.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
29 Aug. 2025
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In the daytime, the pair encountered the planarians, often called hammerhead worms, hiding under rotting logs or rocks.—
Lauren Liebhaber,
Miami Herald,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The core Woodford Reserve character is still there, despite being made from malted barley with no corn or rye in the mashbill (perhaps due to the proprietary yeast strain that is used during fermentation).—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
7 Sep. 2025
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This is done using non-GMO oil yeasts in a secondary fermentation process.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Likely only dead individuals, floating as gases formed by putrefaction accumulated in body cavities, entered the lagoon.—
David Bressan,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025
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Fifty-three industrial plants are invited to squat there, in the center of the city, and the smell of decomposition and putrefaction and acidification, a stew of sulfur, chlorine, lye, and ammonia, suffuses the air.—
Caroline Fraser
June 10,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Decompose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decompose. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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