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
Etymology
Origin of disintegrate
Explanation
Soak your tooth in a cup of soda for long enough and it will disintegrate, or break apart from decay. The word disintegrate comes from a combination of the prefix dis- meaning "do the opposite of" and the Latin integrare meaning "to make whole." When something disintegrates, it does the opposite of become whole; it falls apart. Objects can either disintegrate over time — like a tooth soaking in a cup of soda, or instantaneously — like a building disintegrating into dust from an explosion.
Vocabulary lists containing disintegrate
The Lightning Thief
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Fahrenheit 451
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Farewell to Manzanar
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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.
Language is malleable, but it has to retain some meaning, or the boundaries of our society will disintegrate more than they already have.
From Salon • May 10, 2026
The skins contain natural oils, and garments not kept in a temperature-controlled environment -- ideally off-season in cold vaults -- can dry out and disintegrate.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
When these shelves thin or disintegrate, that stabilizing effect disappears, allowing land ice to move more quickly into the ocean and raise global sea levels.
From Science Daily • Oct. 29, 2025
Were you to cook Swiss chard fully intact, without separating the stems and leaves, the leaf would disintegrate by the time the stems were tender.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025
His plan would disintegrate if she woke before he got out of the palace.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
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.
