de-energize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of de-energize
First recorded in 1885–90; de- + energize ( def. )
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:
The complaint points to the utility’s failure to de-energize its transmission lines that night, as well as its decision to leave up a decommissioned line that hadn’t carried electricity for decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
Powell said the utility company can only be so precise in how it executes power shutoffs because it can only de-energize at the level of circuits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
Afterwards, the local Salt River Project power utility was called to de-energize the pole.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
The project required Metro to coordinate with Pepco, which will de-energize power transmission lines 15 feet above the station canopies.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2023
The passive and contemplative following of thought, my own or other people's, must not de-energize my sympathies and my will.
From Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 by Maud Howe Elliott
Tens of thousands of customers in Los Angeles county alone were without power, as authorities de-energized power lines in a bid to lessen the possibility of electrical sparks that the heavy wind gusts could carry.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
“We had never seen an idle, de-energized transmission line cause an ignition,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Additionally, the company said its distribution lines to the west of Eaton Canyon "were de-energized well before the reported start time of the fire" as part of its fire safety shutoff program.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2025
In the early afternoon — before the initial fire flared back up and began overtaking the town — a utility worker told fire crews that he could not confirm if the lines were de-energized.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
It was de-energized before anyone noticed what was inside.
From The Variable Man by Philip K. Dick
By de-energizing powerlines, utility providers seek to lesson the chances that a electrical spark could be whipped by winds into to a devastating blaze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
“We can look after the fact and see that the consequences of potentially not de-energizing the transmission lines are enormous,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
The CEO of Southern California Edison told The Times earlier this month that winds were not strong enough to merit de-energizing a powerful electrical transmission line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2025
Edison’s CEO has said that winds weren’t strong enough to merit de-energizing lines in the area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2025
Where the study of metaphysics becomes de-energizing, it becomes demoralizing.
From Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 by Maud Howe Elliott
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
