decontaminate

[dee-kuhn-tam-uh-neyt]

verb (used with object)

decontaminated, decontaminating 

1. to make (an object or area) safe for unprotected personnel by removing, neutralizing, or destroying any harmful substance, as radioactive material or poisonous gas.

2. to make free of contamination; purify.

   to decontaminate a sickroom.

decontaminate

/ ˌdiːkənˈtæmɪˌneɪt /

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• decontamination noun
• decontaminative adjective
• decontaminator noun
• decontaminant noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of decontaminate¹

First recorded in 1935–40; de- + contaminate

Example Sentences

Seventeen crew members who had ridden in the helicopters had to be decontaminated, scrubbed from head to foot to remove any radioactive particles.

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Workers have complained of chemical burns from the waste material generated by the tunneling process, and firefighters must decontaminate their equipment after conducting rescues from the project sites.

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A restoration team has also begun decontaminating the building, she said, but the process will take at least two weeks to a month.

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One email asked whether clinics could decontaminate rooms where people with measles had just been if the clinics were too small to follow the CDC’s recommendation to keep those rooms empty for two hours.

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"We are trying to get the site to a phase called 'safe store', which means a lot of dismantling, demolition, carefully decontaminating items on site and then retreating the site back to a safe store."

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Related Words

• cleanse 
• disinfect 
• fumigate 
• sanitize 
• sterilize