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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Just a week after one woman on Jenner’s cleaning staff sued her, claiming her co-workers harassed and discriminated against her, another housekeeper has come out with allegations.—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
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Mahan, who is running for governor, said in his official argument for Measure A that the revenue priorities include faster police, fire, and emergency response, as well as cleaning graffiti and maintaining parks.—
Ryan Macasero,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
Verb
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The administration has provided no explanation for purging the board, which helps steer the National Science Foundation and acts as an independent advisory body for the president and Congress on scientific and engineering issues, providing reports throughout the year.—
Beth Mole,
ArsTechnica,
27 Apr. 2026
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One or more of the agencies compiling these lists — the Illinois State Board of Elections, the Secretary of State, and the Illinois Department of Employment Security, evidently is not purging dead people from its lists, Mertes said.—
Robert McCoppin,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Schleifer and the Stallions boys and girls tennis teams concluded the season by sweeping the 2A state championships at Red Bug Lake Park in Casselberry near Orlando.—
Gary Curreri,
Sun Sentinel,
2 May 2026
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The session’s dying light usually includes the sweeping demise of bills big and small.—
The Denver Post,
Denver Post,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Decontaminating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decontaminating. Accessed 6 May. 2026.
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