as in cleaning
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 decontaminating
Among our responsibilities was decontaminating people and equipment after exposure to hazardous materials.
—
Jennifer N. Pritzker, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Radiation protection personnel allegedly responded to the incident quickly, pulling the worker from the water and decontaminating him safely.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
Jennifer N. Pritzker, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Radiation protection personnel allegedly responded to the incident quickly, pulling the worker from the water and decontaminating him safely.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decontaminating
Verb
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But Lally is still happy to handle the cooking and cleaning herself.—
Sam Gillette,
PEOPLE,
13 June 2026
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When cleaning an oven with vinegar, choose standard household white vinegar and avoid concentrated or high-strength formulas.—
Olivia McIntosh,
Martha Stewart,
13 June 2026
Verb
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Here was a symbolic way of purging Hindu society of untouchability.—
Wyatt Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
2 June 2026
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The data shows that black and brown people spend much longer time, in longer lines, purging people, people literally showing up and not knowing that their names have been purged from the rolls.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
4 May 2026
Verb
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The Rays have taken advantage of surprisingly slow starts by the Blue Jays, Orioles and Red Sox to post an impressive 17-6 record against their division foes, including a remarkable, and historic, 12-0 at home, sweeping a series against each.—
Marc Topkin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 June 2026
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Severe storms sweeping the Midwest knocked out power to roughly 390,000 customers, spawned reported tornadoes across four states and forced mass flight delays and ground stops at Chicago’s two major airports.—
Hallie Golden,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Decontaminating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decontaminating. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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