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decompose

[dee-kuh

m-pohz]

Example Sentences Origin

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verb (used with object)

to separate or resolve into constituent parts or elements; disintegrate: The bacteria decomposed the milk into its solid and liquid elements.

verb (used without object)

to rot; putrefy: The egg began to decompose after a day in the sun.

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Origin:
1745–55; < French décomposer, equivalent to dé- dis-¹ + composer to compose

Related forms

de·com·pos·a·ble, adjective

de·com·pos·a·bil·i·ty, noun

un·de·com·pos·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms
1. distill, fractionate, analyze. 2. See decay.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To decompose

Example Sentences

One of the organic pollutants in sewage sludge does not decompose when composted, a study has found.

It takes longer for stuff to decompose but it keeps critters out and gets the job done.

Reservoirs often flood forests, which give off methane and other greenhouse gases as they decompose.

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One of the organic pollutants in sewage sludge does not decompose when composted, a study has found.

It takes longer for stuff to decompose but it keeps critters out and gets the job done.

Reservoirs often flood forests, which give off methane and other greenhouse gases as they decompose.

Tropical peatlands consist of layer upon layer of forest debris too wet to decompose.

In addition, hydrates decompose rapidly if removed from the high pressures and low temperatures of the deep sea.

But the discovery took them no closer to identifying the dead man, and in the meantime his body had begun to decompose.

Shredded bark and peat moss hold their structure the longest, taking several years to decompose.

Worms decompose organic matter without the additional human physical effort of turning the material that bin composting requires.

These short clippings can remain in place to decompose and enrich the soil.

It can also be created in landfills and hazardous waste sites when substances decompose and their chemical components interact.

Those that are not eaten eventually die and rain down into deeper waters, where bacteria use available oxygen to decompose them.

The leaves that fall naturally from shrubs may decompose and add humus to the soil.

Microbes decompose them and new plants use the same nutrients to grow again.

Since lawn clippings are mostly water, they decompose readily.

Many of the bodies themselves vanished when they were reburied or left to decompose.

Look how long it takes a tree to decompose lying on the ground.

Sand doesn't decompose so it doesn't need to be replaced, only topped up every once in a while.

What little there is will decompose quickly and act as a fertilizer.

But the company also said the compounds do not easily decompose and therefore are not environmentally friendly.

As bacteria decompose the dead material, oxygen is depleted from bottom waters.

When the algae die, they sink to the bottom and decompose in a process that removes oxygen from the water.

The more enterprising foodies of our group tried to decompose these flavors and settled on a blend of butterscotch and vanilla.

What scientists have learned by watching bodies decompose is helping the.

The properties of fruit waste may even help your compost heap decompose more efficiently.

Corpses were propped up in wheelchairs and on lawn furniture, or left to decompose on sunbaked sidewalks.

It won't decompose much, if at all, because air and water can't get.

Such bags decompose within two years, depending on climatic conditions and exposure to sunlight.

Chop up larger pieces, such as branches, into smaller bits with a shovel or machete so they will decompose quickly.

When dead plants and animals decompose on the forest floor, they produce carbon dioxide.

Finally, bacteria in the soil decompose the remains.

When they decompose under water, methane is the byproduct.

The smell is caused by the release of methane and sulfur as the blooms decompose.

It's estimated that it could take compostable items as long to decompose as it would plastic items.

The hull mulches do not decompose as readily, so they seem to last for many seasons.

The clover is dug into the soil in spring to decompose and replenish the nutrient nitrogen.

And because the liquid plant food can decompose in light, the bottle is wrapped tightly with recycled paper and plastic.

The material that is left over is put back on top of the compost pile, to decompose further.

Kalina said initial studies showed that ammonia would not decompose in the process.

If biodegradable bags are put in a landfill they will take forever to decompose.

The newsprint, in time, would decompose into the soil.

These trees are left lying on the forest floor to decompose and expel greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Materials derived from corn won't decompose better than other plastics.

Basically anything that would decompose in nature is accepted in the program.

Environmentally it would probably be better to have it decompose on the subway tracks.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

decompose (ˌdiːkəmˈpəʊz)

—vb
1.	to break down (organic matter) or (of organic matter) to be broken down physically and chemically by bacterial or fungal action; rot
2.	chem to break down or cause to break down into simpler chemical compounds
3.	to break up or separate into constituent parts
4.	(tr) maths to express in terms of a number of independent simpler components, as a set as a canonical union of disjoint subsets, or a vector into orthogonal components

decom'posable

—*adj*

decomposa'bility

—n

decomposition

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

decompose

1762, from de- + compose. Sense of "putrefy" is first recorded 1777.

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Matching Quote

"A deep man believes in miracles, waits for them, believes in magic, believes that the orator will decompose his adversary; believes that the evil eye can wither, that the heart's blessing can heal; that love can exalt talent; can overcome all odds."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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decompose

de·com·pose