decompose
Syllables: de·com·pose/ˌdiːkəmˈpəʊz/US/ˌdikəmˈpoʊz/
decompose verb: to separate or break down (something) into its components.
Verb
decompose (third-person singular simple present decomposes, present participle decomposing, simple past and past participle decomposed)
- To separate or break down (something) into its components.
- Various fungi can decompose wood.
- Our team decomposed this task into several subtasks that could be successfully distributed.
- Synonyms:
- disintegrate, fragment
- To rot, decay or putrefy.
- Plastics can take centuries to decompose.
- Nor had the post mortem on Newson's body revealed any illness or other physical condition that might have prevented him from applying the brake, although after four days in the oven-like heat of the wreckage, the body was so badly decomposed as to make any reliable post mortem results unlikely.2025 February 19, Mike Lewis, “Tragedy at Moorgate”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 59, about the Moorgate tube crash
- Synonyms:
- break down
decompose meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
decompose in Hindi
- to separate
- विघटन vighṭan
- to decay
- अपघटन apaghṭan
decompose in Tamil
- உருக்குலை, பிரிந்தழி, திசு அழுகல், மக்கி உருச்சிதைதல்
decompose in Urdu
- گلانا, سڑانا, تحلیل کرنا
decompose in Malayalam
- മൂലപദാർത്ഥങ്ങളെ വേർപെടുത്തുക, ക്ഷയിച്ചു പോവുക, ഘടകങ്ങളെ വേർപെടുത്തുക
More languagesFewer languages
- decompose in Kannada
- ಕೊಳೆತುಹೋಗು, ನಾಶವಾಗು, ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕಿಸು, ವಿಂಗಡಿಸು
- decompose in Tagalog
- maagnas
- decompose in Arabic
- تَحَلَّلَ taḥallala
Examples of decompose in a sentence
- The polyhedron's surface can be decomposed into twelve independent, non-overlapping deltoidal sections.
- Histerids are scavengers and predators in decomposing organic material such as animal carcasses.
- After washing, the insoluble lime soap is decomposed with hot dilute sulphuric acid.
Synonyms of decompose
Antonyms
Forms of decompose
| third-person singular present | decomposes |
|---|---|
| present participle | decomposing |
| past participle | decomposed |
| past | decomposed |
Origin of decompose
Borrowed from Middle French décomposer. Equivalent to de- + compose.
Words formed from decompose
Words that rhyme with decompose
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- interpose
- propose
- gloze
- oppose
- disclose
- foreclose
- prose
- snows
- turn up one's nose
- unclose
- adipose
- appose
- arose
- chose
- counterpose
- croze
- doze
- enclose
- froze
- hoes
- knows
- adoze
- apollos
- beaus
- beprose
- blows
- bose
- bros
- châteaux
- cloze
- coze
- crows
- does
- dos
- doughs
- fallows
- fellows
- flows
- foes
- follows
- foredispose
- frows
- glows
- goes
- grows
- hard-nose
- hollows
- joes
Questions about decompose
- What does decompose mean?
- Decompose means to separate or break down (something) into its components.
- What is decompose in Hindi?
- Decompose in Hindi is विघटन (vighṭan), अपघटन (apaghṭan). See Decompose meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is decompose?
- Decompose is a verb.
- How do you pronounce decompose?
- Decompose is pronounced /ˌdiːkəmˈpəʊz/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of decompose?
- The past tense of decompose is decomposed.
Words near decompose in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decompose (page history and authors); decompose (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decompose (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decompose (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decompose (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-decompose.wav.
Cite this entry: “decompose.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decompose. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.