disintegrate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to separate into parts or lose intactness or solidness; break up; deteriorate.
The old book is gradually disintegrating with age.
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Physics.
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to decay.
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(of a nucleus) to change into one or more different nuclei after being bombarded by high-energy particles, as alpha particles or gamma rays.
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verb (used with object)
verb
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to break or be broken into fragments or constituent parts; shatter
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to lose or cause to lose cohesion or unity
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(intr) to lose judgment or control; deteriorate
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physics
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to induce or undergo nuclear fission, as by bombardment with fast particles
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another word for decay
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Related Words
See decay.
Other Word Forms
- disintegrable adjective
- disintegration noun
- disintegrative adjective
- disintegrator noun
- disintegratory adjective
- nondisintegrating adjective
Etymology
Origin of disintegrate
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.
Usually you needed a jackhammer to dig into permafrost, but this ground had disintegrated just from Owen walking on it.
From Literature
Panther Lake also represents a step forward for a company whose manufacturing footprint disintegrated over the last decade.
From Barron's
Panther Lake also represents a step forward for a company whose manufacturing footprint disintegrated over the last decade.
From Barron's
Six weeks after the charges were filed, the case disintegrated.
From Los Angeles Times
Among other drawbacks, she notes, “films have disintegrated because preservationists can’t digitize them.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
