disintegrate
to separate into parts or lose intactness or solidness; break up; deteriorate: The old book is gradually disintegrating with age.
Physics.
to decay.
(of a nucleus) to change into one or more different nuclei after being bombarded by high-energy particles, as alpha particles or gamma rays.
to reduce to particles, fragments, or parts; break up or destroy the cohesion of: Rocks are disintegrated by frost and rain.
Origin of disintegrate
1synonym study For disintegrate
Other words from disintegrate
- dis·in·te·gra·ble [dis-in-tuh-gruh-buhl], /dɪsˈɪn tə grə bəl/, adjective
- dis·in·te·gra·tive, dis·in·te·gra·to·ry [dis-in-tuh-gruh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, -grey-tuh-ree], /dɪsˈɪn tə grəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, -ˌgreɪ tə ri/, adjective
- dis·in·te·gra·tor, noun
- non·dis·in·te·grat·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use disintegrate in a sentence
The philosophic empiricism initiated by Locke was thus disintegrative in intent.
Reconstruction in Philosophy | John DeweyHugo's romantic drama is as disintegrative, regular in construction, perspicuous, and eloquent as a tragedy of Corneille.
British Dictionary definitions for disintegrate
/ (dɪsˈɪntɪˌɡreɪt) /
to break or be broken into fragments or constituent parts; shatter
to lose or cause to lose cohesion or unity
(intr) to lose judgment or control; deteriorate
physics
to induce or undergo nuclear fission, as by bombardment with fast particles
another word for decay (def. 3)
Derived forms of disintegrate
- disintegrable, adjective
- disintegration, noun
- disintegrative, adjective
- disintegrator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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