as in cleaned
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.
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Recent Examples of decontaminated
Penny and Ghazarian hired their own industrial hygienist, who concluded the property needed to be decontaminated of heavy metals and other combustion by-products.
—
Tony Saavedra, Daily News, 5 Mar. 2026
The sheriff's office says first responders were decontaminated at the hospital.
—Dejanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 18 Feb. 2026
Afterward, the animals were decontaminated and bathed, and those who experienced the most inhalation are being supervised at a veterinary clinic, Halverson said.
—Melina Khan, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
Has been contaminated due to methamphetamine and the owner has not appealed or decontaminated the property within 90 days.
—Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 18 June 2025
Tony Saavedra, Daily News, 5 Mar. 2026
The sheriff's office says first responders were decontaminated at the hospital.
—Dejanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 18 Feb. 2026
Afterward, the animals were decontaminated and bathed, and those who experienced the most inhalation are being supervised at a veterinary clinic, Halverson said.
—Melina Khan, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
Has been contaminated due to methamphetamine and the owner has not appealed or decontaminated the property within 90 days.
—Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 18 June 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decontaminated
Verb
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If your area experiences cold winters, bring them indoors in autumn, either emptied of their annuals, cleaned and stored, or still housing tropicals, evergreens or herbs, and treat them as houseplants over winter.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 Apr. 2026
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Some clothes and shoes on the bottom floor were salvaged and have been sent to be cleaned.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At the same time, her show swept five of six acting categories.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
6 Apr. 2026
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The Wolverines finished third in league play behind conference champion Indiana and second-place Illinois, both of which swept the Wolverines and accounted for four of Michigan's six conference losses en route to a 24-7 regular season mark.—
Joseph Buczek,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Of the 44 officers selected to join the Communist Party’s top-leadership council, 40 have been purged or gone missing since mid-2023, Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, told me.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2026
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Trump has since purged both commissions of critics and appointed loyalists to take their places.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Decontaminated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decontaminated. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
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