as in cleans
to remove dirty or dangerous substances (such as radioactive material) from (a person, thing, place, etc.)
Special workers were called in to decontaminate the area after the oil spill.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decontaminates
Verb
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Prior to their nuptials, the Danforth family’s in-house glam squad cleans Grace up, and that’s when Ursula approaches her to reconsider her plan to wed her psychotic sibling.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Mar. 2026 -
This will prevent things from getting out of hand, making your deep cleans much more manageable.—
Molly Burford,
Southern Living,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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During their brief stay in Earth orbit — and during Orion's days-long transfer to lunar space — the crew will witness the waning gibbous phase, as the line separating night from day sweeps right-to-left across the moon's surface.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
1 Apr. 2026
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His suite in the World Trade Center is cavernous, with a view that sweeps from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Statue of Liberty.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Haugh lets out the occasional wince, twitch and groan as Patterson kneads knotted muscles and purges lactic acid build-up so Florida’s leading scorer and ironman can continue to shoulder his heavy workload.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 Mar. 2026
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Unless a Nest user subscribes to a service that allows for quick access to review footage recorded on a device, Google routinely purges the footage rather than retain it indefinitely, said Stacey Higginbotham, a policy fellow at Consumer Reports who specializes in cybersecurity issues.—
Safiyah Riddle,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Decontaminates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decontaminates. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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