as in to disintegrate
to go through decomposition
detectives needed to know how long it would take a corpse to decompose to that advanced state
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in decay
the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances
the unmistakable smell of decomposition led us to some fruit that had fallen behind the refrigerator
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of decompose
Stella Kim, NBC News, 30 Dec. 2024
Over the centuries, the decomposing bodies left cavities inside the hardened mineral casings.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Jan. 2025
Body parts seen poking out of the ground were not fully decomposed, Hayes said.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 7 Jan. 2025
Like the decomposing Russian beside the home from which Buryi’s team flew its drones, he was left behind, another luckless soul in a human-hunting routine brought to the world after a cornered people, choosing between collective life and collective death, opened Pandora’s box.
—C.j. Chivers Robert Fass Krish Seenivasan Steven Szczesniak, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for decompose 
Verb
Park, the man who lost his brother and was speaking on behalf of other families, said Monday that more freezing containers were needed to keep the bodies from decomposing amid rising temperatures.
—Stella Kim, NBC News, 30 Dec. 2024
Over the centuries, the decomposing bodies left cavities inside the hardened mineral casings.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Jan. 2025
Body parts seen poking out of the ground were not fully decomposed, Hayes said.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 7 Jan. 2025
Like the decomposing Russian beside the home from which Buryi’s team flew its drones, he was left behind, another luckless soul in a human-hunting routine brought to the world after a cornered people, choosing between collective life and collective death, opened Pandora’s box.
—C.j. Chivers Robert Fass Krish Seenivasan Steven Szczesniak, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for decompose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decompose
Verb
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Other groups disintegrated amid more prosaic conflicts over priorities and egos.—
Charles Homans,
New York Times,
19 Jan. 2025
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This time, the ship disintegrated and reentered the atmosphere at dusk, with impeccable lighting conditions accentuating the debris cloud's appearance.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Antisemitism remains a stark indicator of societal decay.—
Irwin Cotler,
TIME,
26 Jan. 2025
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The presentation included more consistent street lighting, new pottery and trash cans, new wayfinding signage, repairs to uneven sidewalks, and replacements for trees that are showing signs of decay, among other changes.—
Tyler Williams,
Orlando Sentinel,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The scent of rotting flesh attracts pollinators, like beetles and flies, that lay their eggs in dead animals.—
Sara Hashemi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 Jan. 2025
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But this week in Sydney, a city known for its beaches and vibrant food scene, crowds flocked to catch a glimpse — and a whiff — of a rare flower whose scent has been lovingly compared to that of rotting flesh.—
Max Butterworth,
NBC News,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The company has also developed a fermentation device, which will be filled with sake rice, Koji and yeast.—
Akiko Katayama,
Forbes,
24 Jan. 2025
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Made in a dedicated white wine fermentation room, the two whites are the first releases from the new winery.—
Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen,
Robb Report,
10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Here was an artist drawn irresistibly to executions and corpses, dismemberment and putrefaction.—
airmail.news,
airmail.news,
20 Apr. 2024
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Kellogg’s thinking on constipation, that anything less than three bowel movements a day risked dangerous intestinal putrefaction, was shaped by the emerging germ theory of disease and the ascent of bacteriology as a discipline through the closing decades of the 19th century.—
Elsa Richardson,
TIME,
3 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near decompose
Cite this Entry
“Decompose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decompose. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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