disintegrate
Americanverb (used without object)
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disintegrates,
present (3rd person singular)
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disintegrated,
past participle, past
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disintegrating
present participle
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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)
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disintegrates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disintegrated,
past participle, past
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disintegrating
present participle
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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Synonym Usage
See decay.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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disintegrationnoun
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disintegratornoun
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disintegrableadjective
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disintegrativeadjective
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disintegratoryadjective
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nondisintegratingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disintegratesimple
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disintegratessimple
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have disintegratedperfect
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has disintegratedperfect
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am disintegratingprogressive
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are disintegratingprogressive
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is disintegratingprogressive
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have been disintegratingperfect progressive
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has been disintegratingperfect progressive
Past
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disintegratedsimple
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had disintegratedperfect
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was disintegratingprogressive
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were disintegratingprogressive
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had been disintegratingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
"I figure it'll probably disintegrate and probably nobody will ever hear it, that's what bothers me... if it rots in there before they open it."
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Tall figures, made in the 1960s, seem to disintegrate as we concentrate on the nuances of De Kooning’s touch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Only last month U.S. authorities said that it was illegal for countries to charge tolls on international waterways, so this threat may disintegrate when it hits reality,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
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
If you share this letter with a non-Marveller, it shall disintegrate into dust.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
However, the US Geological Survey then clarified that the disaster was caused by a "glacial collapse", which is when a glacier or part of a glacier disintegrates.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
But if data disintegrates, he said, he would vote in favor of a cut.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
He adds that if we sacrifice that commitment for A.I., “you’d get to a point pretty fast where it just disintegrates and becomes the ugliest definition of the word product.”
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2024
This produces a copy of the existing RNA strand before it disintegrates through the addition of water.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2024
The paper disintegrates into mush between her teeth.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The US Geological Survey says the floods in the Nepal-Tibet border were triggered by a "glacial collapse" - meaning a glacier or part of a glacier had disintegrated.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Given how fragile it was, it may simply have disintegrated on the shelf and been overlooked or thrown away.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
He poked at the steps on a back stairway and the water-damaged tiles disintegrated like soggy saltines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
He points out that Russia virtually disintegrated twice in the 20th century, once after the Bolshevik Revolution and again after the Cold War, only to claw its way back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The classical civilization that created them disintegrated, and the library itself was deliberately destroyed.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
They stored the item in water to keep it from disintegrating, marked down exactly where in the shipwreck it was found and placed it in a locked case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
So does he have the numbers and is he willing to move – particularly if it is harder for him to point to Sir Keir's authority disintegrating because there is already a challenger?
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
The former, which Miller once considered calling “The Inside of His Head,” is fluidly constructed, playing fast and loose with time as it tracks the disintegrating mental life of down-and-out salesman Willy Loman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
Gaye drew inspiration from his disintegrating marriage to Gordy’s sister.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
All around, you saw these signals of neglect, as if the camp itself were slowly, deliberately disintegrating in order to comply with the administration’s deadline.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
