detoxify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to rid of poison or the effect of poison.
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to treat (a person addicted to alcohol or drugs) in a detox program.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to remove poison from; detoxicate
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to treat (a person) for alcoholism or drug addiction
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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detoxifysimple
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detoxifiessimple
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have detoxifiedperfect
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has detoxifiedperfect
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am detoxifyingprogressive
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are detoxifyingprogressive
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is detoxifyingprogressive
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have been detoxifyingperfect progressive
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has been detoxifyingperfect progressive
Past
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detoxifiedsimple
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had detoxifiedperfect
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was detoxifyingprogressive
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were detoxifyingprogressive
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had been detoxifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of detoxify
First recorded in 1900–05; detoxi(cate) + -fy
Vocabulary lists containing detoxify
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Adherents swear by cupping therapy as a way to manage muscle pain and detoxify, but more spas are touting it as the ideal postflight treatment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Bethany Maxwell, technical officer at Gibraltar Botanic Gardens, added: "We know that primates eat soil especially to detoxify or for nutrient supplementation."
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Silver, for her part, argues that Meghan may be hoping to "detoxify" her brand with the new show.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2025
Dermatologists say that scalp treatments promote circulation and detoxify, as well as calm and hydrate skin, all of which can help prevent dandruff, itchiness, dryness and inflammation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2024
DDT-resistant flies possess an enzyme that allows them to detoxify the insecticide to the less toxic chemical DDE.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
"With its fin immersed into the cell membrane, it rides along the inner surface and swiftly detoxifies lipid peroxides as it goes."
From Science Daily ● Dec. 9, 2025
"It detoxifies the body and is good in weight loss," says James Wathiru, who ordered "managu" - or African nightshade.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2025
Finally, the resulting pulp can be dried, which detoxifies it even further, or cooked, which finishes the process using heat.
From Salon ● May 6, 2024
Rustam Tukhvatshin, a Kyrgyz medicines professor, says kumis promotes the growth of blood cells and detoxifies the body, among other benefits.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2022
Glutathione is an antioxidant naturally found in human cells that neutralizes free radicals, boosts the immune system and detoxifies the body.
From New York Times ● Aug. 28, 2017
"Once advanced glycation products are formed, they cannot be detoxified," Shanmugam said.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2023
But Milken’s philanthropy and friendships eventually detoxified his name so much that his prison time was just a tiny piece of the story when George Washington University put his name on a school in 2014.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2023
Initially, the pool was surrounded by parks and soccer fields — some of which remain and are being detoxified after decades of disrepair.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2022
It’s almost as if their relationship was more suited to 2019, where masculinity is being redefined and detoxified.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 10, 2019
But poisons that have no normal place in the body may also be detoxified.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
In addition, while traditional Amazonian methods for detoxifying cassava can be slow, they are easy to replicate and speed up with modern machinery.
From Salon ● May 6, 2024
These streams are also better at detoxifying those metals already present.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2024
From detoxifying tonics to brain-boosting nootropics, beverages promise a vast—and growing—array of health benefits.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 8, 2024
And the strategy that led to the discovery of the compound, described today in Nature, may offer a route for detoxifying other antimicrobial drugs.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 8, 2023
An inhalation room treated the respiratory system and asthma, and there were detoxifying baths using mud from the nearby springs.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
