as in to clean
to remove dirty or dangerous substances (such as radioactive material) from (a person, thing, place, etc.)
Special workers were called in to decontaminate the area after the oil spill.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of decontaminate
There’s no cost at Tahoe’s inspection station to decontaminate a kayak or paddleboard, plus experts will educate you on how to do it, Patten said.
—
Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Irradiating food is a safety measure aimed to decontaminate it.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 21 Aug. 2025
Has been contaminated due to methamphetamine and the owner has not appealed or decontaminated the property within 90 days.
—Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Any sale would require the land’s owner to submit a development application and decontaminate the site to the standards set by state authorities.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for decontaminate
Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Irradiating food is a safety measure aimed to decontaminate it.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 21 Aug. 2025
Has been contaminated due to methamphetamine and the owner has not appealed or decontaminated the property within 90 days.
—Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Any sale would require the land’s owner to submit a development application and decontaminate the site to the standards set by state authorities.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for decontaminate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decontaminate
Verb
-
Don’t reuse contact lens solution that’s been sitting in your case; clean the case with fresh solution at least once a week and leave it open to air dry; and never use tap water or saliva as a wetting agent.—
Holly Burns,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Staff at the cemetery assigned each student a set of graves to clean in a section of the cemetery that needed grounds maintenance.—
Alyssa N. Salcedo,
jsonline.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Tarek then recounted making several extended trips to the bathroom to cool off and wipe his face, which eventually caught Heather's attention.—
Lex Goldstein,
PEOPLE,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Make sure to wipe the top and bottom of each blade, as well as around the motor.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In an interview with Cycling Weekly last year, Slovenian Jan Tratnik said that his desperation to lose weight led him to develop bulimia – binge-eating large amounts of food and purging it to avoid weight gain.—
George Ramsay,
CNN Money,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Miao is one of the highest-ranking CMC officials to be purged since the 1960s and is particularly significant since he was personally elevated to the CMC by Xi.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Something in your circle is shifting, and sweeping it under the rug isn't going to work this time!—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
-
The wind then sweeps past Earth along a magnetotail, an extension of Earth’s magnetic field away from the Sun, that can be millions of kilometers long.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Decontaminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decontaminate. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share