deactivate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause to be inactive; remove the effectiveness of.
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to demobilize or disband (a military unit).
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to render (a bomb, shell, or the like) inoperative, especially by disconnecting, removing, or otherwise interfering with the action of the fuze.
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Chemistry. to render (a chemical, enzyme, catalyst, etc.) inactive.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(tr) to make (a bomb, etc) harmless or inoperative
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(intr) to become less radioactive
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(tr) to end the active status of (a military unit)
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chem to return or cause to return from an activated state to a normal or ground state
Other Word Forms
- deactivation noun
- deactivator noun
Etymology
Origin of deactivate
Vocabulary lists containing deactivate
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.
Nearly 50 cities nationwide have opted to deactivate their scanners or cancel contracts with Flock, mostly in recent months, according to the website DeFlock.me, which has set out to map locations of the company’s cameras.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
Earlier work from his group showed that when resveratrol and copper are combined, they generate oxygen radicals that deactivate or destroy cfChPs.
From Science Daily • Dec. 10, 2025
Last month, the government said social media giants will not be required to verify the ages of all users, but must take "reasonable steps" to detect and deactivate underage ones.
From Barron's • Oct. 13, 2025
At the same time, however, those college students said they would pay an average of about $24 to have their peers deactivate TikTok for four weeks, and about $6 to do without Instagram.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025
“You’re a good friend, Festus. No one can truly deactivate you. You’re more than a machine. Khione doesn’t understand that.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
