as in cleans
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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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decontaminates
Verb
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This not only cleans and deodorizes, but also helps remove mineral deposit buildup.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
17 Apr. 2026 -
His team cleans and converts messy internal files—from handwritten field notes for commercial clients to exotic classified file formats for the government—so they can be searched safely inside a secure vector database.—
Erik German,
Fortune,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Apparent tornadoes touched down in the Midwest on Friday and a weekend flooding risk remains as roller-coaster weather sweeps the country, with some states experiencing summer-like temperatures in the middle of spring.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
17 Apr. 2026
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Season 2 begins with the Hardacre family on the brink of transformation in 1895, as modernity sweeps into Hardacre Hall with electricity and shifting loyalties.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Haugh lets out the occasional wince, twitch and groan as Patterson kneads knotted muscles and purges lactic acid build-up so Florida’s leading scorer and ironman can continue to shoulder his heavy workload.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 Mar. 2026
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Unless a Nest user subscribes to a service that allows for quick access to review footage recorded on a device, Google routinely purges the footage rather than retain it indefinitely, said Stacey Higginbotham, a policy fellow at Consumer Reports who specializes in cybersecurity issues.—
Safiyah Riddle,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Decontaminates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decontaminates. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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