View synonyms for decontaminate

decontaminate

[ dee-kuhn-tam-uh-neyt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

, de·con·tam·i·nated, de·con·tam·i·nat·ing.

to make (an object or area) safe for unprotected personnel by removing, neutralizing, or destroying any harmful substance, as radioactive material or poisonous gas.
to make free of contamination; purify:
to decontaminate a sickroom.

decontaminate

/ ˌdiːkənˈtæmɪˌneɪt /

tr to render (an area, building, object, etc) harmless by the removal, distribution, or neutralization of poisons, radioactivity, etc

First recorded in 1935–40; de- + contaminate

That authorities are “doing our best” to decontaminate the area, shut down the plant, and return lives to normal.

For the next three months, workers labored around the clock to decontaminate the site of deadly plutonium.

Tony Blair managed to decontaminate the losing Labour brand in 1994 by rechristening his party “ New Labour.”

He needed to, in his phrase, “decontaminate the Conservative Party brand.”

He says that it really was essential to decontaminate the Tory brand.

They want our planets, and they didn't want to have to decontaminate them when they took them over.

Nobody's had time to decontaminate this whole planet like they did Earth.

A few essential manufactures had also been revived, mostly in the form of machine shops to decontaminate engine parts.

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