desalinate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of desalinate
Explanation
To desalinate something is to remove all the salt from it. It's possible to desalinate ocean water in order to make it drinkable. Scientists have figured out how to desalinate seawater, making it much more useful to humans. Once you strip away the salt and other minerals that make it undrinkable, the water can be used for both drinking and irrigating crops, which can save the lives of people experiencing droughts. It's also sometimes necessary to desalinate soil so that plants can grow in it. Desalinate comes from de-, "undo," and saline, "made of salt."
Vocabulary lists containing desalinate
List 14
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 6
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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:
It can even desalinate water quickly, which means ocean water could potentially be used to fight a blaze like the Palisades fire in the future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
"The big challenge is that you need a lot of energy to desalinate water and increase water production using zero liquid discharge," Dunn said.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024
The fuel cannot be used for hospitals or to desalinate water, and covers less than 10% of what the agency needs to sustain “lifesaving activities,” said Thomas White, the agency’s Gaza director.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
There are currently two techniques used to desalinate seawater - thermal and membrane.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2023
The island lacked potable water, so Professor Fredkin developed a reverse-osmosis technology to desalinate seawater, which he turned into another business.
From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2023
The country currently produces a little more than 657,000 cubic metres per day of desalinated water thanks to 341 plants.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Arizona and Nevada are pursuing a deal with the San Diego County Water Authority to access desalinated ocean water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Ras Laffan also houses gas-to-liquids facilities — these convert natural gas into liquid petroleum products — along with a refinery and water and power plants that produce desalinated water and generate electricity.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
“The key strategy in overcoming it is to build in some diversification of supply — to groundwater, desalinated water and reused wastewater — in addition to reducing demand.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
The algae naturally and continuously desalinated sea water, which was why its core was salty while its outer surface was wet with fresh water: it was oozing the fresh water out.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Water agencies are also creating new supplies for trade, including by recycling sewage water or desalinating ocean water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
"The ship can produce fresh water by desalinating seawater, but that becomes difficult if we are not sailing," he says.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
They say it’s not really desalinating seawater in the traditional sense, but rather harvesting fresh water from devices that function like wells in the ocean.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025
San Diego and El Paso, Tex., are already desalinating brackish groundwater.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 17, 2023
It operates in some respects like an aircraft carrier at sea, even desalinating its own water with fuel brought in by tanker.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2019
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.
