decommission

[ dee-kuh-mish-uhn ]

/ ˌdi kəˈmɪʃ ən /

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See synonyms for: decommission / decommissioned on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to remove or retire (a ship, airplane, etc.) from active service.

to deactivate; shut down: to decommission a nuclear power plant.

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Origin of decommission

First recorded in 1925–30; de- + commission

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use decommission in a sentence

The US National Science Foundation has just announced it is going to begin decommissioning the famous Arecibo Observatory, the 1,000-foot-wide, 900-ton radio telescope located in Puerto Rico.
The second-largest radio telescope in the world is shutting down|Neel Patel|November 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In 2019, before it was decommissioned, I was in a group of 20 researchers who were given access to use it for calculations.
Fiction: Quiet earth philosophy|Katie McLean|October 21, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Since 2013, when regulators finally decided to shut SONGS down for good, teams of scientists, engineers, and policymakers have been hard at work to make sure it could be safely decommissioned.
Finding homes for the waste that will (probably) outlive humanity|Katie McLean|October 21, 2020|MIT Technology Review
On Thursday night, two decommissioned spacecraft could collide, spraying dangerous space junk across the sky.
Russian and Chinese spacecrafts could collide in space junk super-spreader|rhhackettfortune|October 15, 2020|Fortune

Additionally, about a dozen high-speed mail-sorting machines were decommissioned from the processing plant that serves large swaths of the state, union officials said.
In Detroit, chronic USPS delays undermine voters’ confidence in voting by mail|Lisa Rein, Kayla Ruble|October 5, 2020|Washington Post
Unfortunately, they were decommissioned when it was shown that, like humans, the DRNs have a bit of a breaking point.
‘Almost Human’ Review: A Dystopian Future That We’ve Seen Before|Chancellor Agard|November 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Caine is finally decommissioned in the fall of 1945, after steaming its broken-down way home from Okinawa.
David's Bookclub: The Caine Mutiny|David Frum|January 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
There are only 11, and that number will go down to 10 this year when the USS Enterprise is decommissioned after 50 years.
As Obama Preaches Patience, Mattis Prepares for War With Iran|Eli Lake|May 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Such descriptions exert a hypnotic pull—and a climactic chapter in the decommissioned city hall station is a showstopper.
Underground Novel of the Year|Taylor Antrim|March 5, 2009|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for decommission

decommission

/ (ˌdiːkəˈmɪʃən) /

verb

(tr) to dismantle or remove from service (a nuclear reactor, weapon, ship, etc which is no longer required)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

decommission

Origin of decommission

Words related to decommission

How to use decommission in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for decommission