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.
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Recent Examples of decontaminate
After receiving a settlement from his insurance company, Minds used the funds to decontaminate and fix his house.
—
Abigail Adams, PEOPLE, 7 Jan. 2026
Contaminated Water Recreational or drinking water gets contaminated when septic tanks leak into wells, when an infected person vomits or defecates in the water, or when wastewater isn’t treated properly to decontaminate it.
—Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Dec. 2025
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
Workers have complained of chemical burns from the waste material generated by the tunneling process, and firefighters must decontaminate their equipment after conducting rescues from the project sites.
—Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decontaminate
Abigail Adams, PEOPLE, 7 Jan. 2026
Contaminated Water Recreational or drinking water gets contaminated when septic tanks leak into wells, when an infected person vomits or defecates in the water, or when wastewater isn’t treated properly to decontaminate it.
—Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Dec. 2025
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
Workers have complained of chemical burns from the waste material generated by the tunneling process, and firefighters must decontaminate their equipment after conducting rescues from the project sites.
—Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decontaminate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decontaminate
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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Maintenance is just as easy—wipe it down with a cloth or rinse it off with a hose when needed.—
Mariana Best,
Better Homes & Gardens,
26 Apr. 2026
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Rinse with warm water and wipe dry.—
Madeline Buiano,
Martha Stewart,
25 Apr. 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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Roenicke never had a chance, taking over a team that would soon go on a salary dump that purged Betts, the 2018 AL MVP, along with 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner David Price.—
Jimmy Golen,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The team sweep capped a heady school year for American Heritage-Delray coach Brian Schleifer.—
Gary Curreri,
Sun Sentinel,
2 May 2026
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The demonstration also touched on various issues that Americans have been facing including the rising cost of food and gas due in part to tariffs, the war in Iran and immigration sweeps that experts have said contributed to a shortage of agricultural workers.—
Ruben Vives,
Los Angeles Times,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Decontaminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decontaminate. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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