denature
Americanverb (used with object)
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to render (any of various alcohols) unfit for drinking by adding an unwholesome substance that does not alter usefulness for other purposes.
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Biochemistry. to treat (a protein or the like) by chemical or physical means so as to alter its original state.
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to make (fissionable material) unsuitable for use in an atomic weapon by mixing it with unfissionable material.
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to deprive (something) of its natural character, properties, etc.
verb
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to change the nature of
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to change (a protein) by chemical or physical means, such as the action of acid or heat, to cause loss of solubility, biological activity, etc
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to render (something, such as ethanol) unfit for consumption by adding nauseous substances
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to render (fissile material) unfit for use in nuclear weapons by addition of an isotope
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To cause the tertiary structure of a protein to unfold, as with heat, alkali, or acid, so that some of its original properties, especially its biological activity, are diminished or eliminated.
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To cause the paired strands of DNA to separate into individual strands.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of denature
Explanation
In science, to denature something is to transform its basic qualities in a significant way. When you cook egg whites, you denature them, changing them from transparent and liquid to solid and white. Chemists frequently denature proteins, and cooking an egg white is one example of what that can look like. Another is the skin that forms on top of milk if you leave it out of the fridge for a while. Substances can be denatured by heat, acidity, and various chemicals. Adding nasty-tasting or poisonous ingredients to alcohol so it can't be consumed is another way to denature something. Figuratively, this word means "alter": "Taking away recess denatures the school experience!"
Vocabulary lists containing denature
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:
This property depends heavily on both the amount of protein in the beer and how these proteins denature.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 29, 2025
It is thought that acids in the stomach denature the virus, said Michael Imperiale, a microbiologist and immunologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2024
“We need to take a step back and decide: Are we willing to denature nature for our toys and our various games we play with her?”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 31, 2022
When they are exposed to extreme heat, acids, bases, and certain other substances, proteins will denature.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Term for `police' nanobots intended to prevent gray goo, denature hazardous waste, destroy pollution, put ozone back into the stratosphere, prevent halitosis, and promote truth, justice, and the American way, etc.
From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Guy L. Steele
Now that most of the paint is gone, spray the chair with denatured alcohol and scrub with more steel wool to clean off any residue.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
To manufacture the sponge, Mohammad Peydayesh, a senior scientist in Mezzenga's Group, and his colleagues denatured whey proteins under acidic conditions and high temperatures, so that they aggregated into protein nanofibrils in a gel.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024
Along the way, he encounters other animals but, more consequently, kind and cruel people whose treatment of him reflects the denatured world that we have made.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2022
The title and Ma’s name are ruffled too, as if the author herself were shrink-wrapping delicious pleasure into a denatured product.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
Hundreds of pounds of denatured iron that alchemists would have fought over The mayor nodded eagerly and singsonged, “Dig a pit that’s ten by two. Ash and elm and rowan too.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Antonoff, an occasional tabloid presence thanks to his relationships with actresses Lena Dunham and Margaret Qualley, isn’t alone in his flair for slightly denaturing sounds familiar to any music fan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2022
Denaturation is often reversible because the primary structure of the polypeptide is conserved in the process if the denaturing agent is removed, allowing the protein to resume its function.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
In denaturing the stage action from the narrative, though, the play makes it possible to admire Berry’s certified-organic artistry and Morrison’s haunting accompaniment, without feeling anything like unease.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2020
This emotional complacency—a kind of saccharine self-satisfaction at his own sensitivity—is all the more disheartening for its denaturing of the movie’s evident substance, for the banalization of its meditative, nearly collage-like sense of memory.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 11, 2017
The pyridines are now mostly recovered from coal-tar, but only in the shape of a mixture of all members of the series which is principally employed for denaturing alcohol.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various
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.
