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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Recent Examples of decompose
The couple’s decomposing bodies were discovered in the pair’s home after a maintenance worker called 911.
—
Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 7 Mar. 2025
Some of the dead had been buried, but other bodies remained strewn on the ground, mangled and decomposing.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
The composting bin contains some 250,000 red wiggler worms that feast on the manure of the animals and poultry that live on the farm, and decompose plant detritus, coffee grounds, and table scraps as well.
—Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 8 Mar. 2025
In a forensic context, mummification occurs when a dead body dries out instead of decomposing as normal, due to a warm, dry and well-ventilated environment, according to the National Library of Medicine.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decompose
Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 7 Mar. 2025
Some of the dead had been buried, but other bodies remained strewn on the ground, mangled and decomposing.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
The composting bin contains some 250,000 red wiggler worms that feast on the manure of the animals and poultry that live on the farm, and decompose plant detritus, coffee grounds, and table scraps as well.
—Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 8 Mar. 2025
In a forensic context, mummification occurs when a dead body dries out instead of decomposing as normal, due to a warm, dry and well-ventilated environment, according to the National Library of Medicine.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for decompose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decompose
Verb
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Players like Bobby Bonilla, George Foster, Vince Coleman, Jason Bay, Justin Verlander, Kaz Matsui, and others, came to Queens with high hopes that eventually disintegrated.—
Bob Raissman,
New York Daily News,
15 Mar. 2025
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The top courses of the concrete block had disintegrated, and were nothing more than sand and small stones.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
15 Mar. 2025
Verb
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What doesn’t decay this winter can be mulched up next spring.—
Jeff Lowenfels,
Anchorage Daily News,
22 Sep. 2022
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In particular, many theorists have wondered how the great complexity of life can be reconciled with the laws of thermodynamics that suggest that all systems must inevitably decay to a state of greatest disorder.—
The Physics arXiv Blog,
Discover Magazine,
29 Apr. 2022
Verb
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The story revolves around a town where the inhabitants have been mysteriously disappearing and rumours abound that there are ghosts under the lake eating human heads and leaving the rotting corpses floating on the water’s surface.—
Liz Shackleton,
Deadline,
16 Mar. 2025
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The window company used this preservative to prevent wood rot in both the window frames and the sashes.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
15 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Decompose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decompose. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025.
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