decompose
[verb]
Synonyms: rot, break up, crumble, decay, fall apart, fester, putrefy

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Antonyms: compound
Contrasted words: combine, join, link, write, synthesize, unify, amalgamate, merge, mix
Related Words: deliquesce, liquefy, melt, break up, dissolve

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English Thesaurus: decay, rot, go off, spoil, go mouldy, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

de‧com‧pose /ˌdiːkəmˈpəʊz $ -ˈpoʊz/ verb [intransitive and transitive]

1. to decay or make something decay:
a partially decomposed body

2. technical to divide into smaller parts, or to make something do this
—decomposition /ˌdiːkɒmpəˈzɪʃən $ -kɑːm-/ noun [uncountable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

decompose
verb
PHRASES badly/partially/partly decomposed His badly decomposed body was found many weeks later.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

decay to be slowly destroyed by a natural chemical process – use this especially about natural things such as wood or plants, or about teeth:
The leaves decay and enrich the soil.
He had bad breath and decaying teeth.
The fabric slowly began to decay.
rot to decay. Rot is less formal than decay and is more common in everyday English:
The fruit was left to rot on the ground.
rotting teeth
Most of the wood under the paint had rotted.
the smell of rotting vegetation (=decaying leaves and plants)
go off British English if food goes off, it starts to smell bad and is no longer be safe to eat:
I think the milk’s gone off.
The meat smells as if it's gone off.
spoil if food spoils, it starts to decay, so that it is no longer safe to eat. Spoil is more formal and is less common in everyday British English than go off:
Food left in the sun will quickly start to spoil.
go mouldy British English, moldy American English to begin to have a soft green or black substance growing on the surface of the food, so that it is not good to eat any more:
Ugh, the cheese has gone mouldy!
decompose formal to decay – use this especially about dead plants or flesh:
leaves decomposing on the forest floor
putrefy formal to decay and have a very bad smell – use this especially about flesh or plants:
After two days, the body was already beginning to putrefy.
putrefying meat
biodegrade to decay naturally into substances that do not harm the environment – use this especially about man-made materials and chemicals:
Unlike many other materials, plastic does not biodegrade.
cause decay
Bacteria stick to food and cause decay.
prevent decay
You can use a preservative on the wood to prevent further decay.
tooth/dental decay
Eating too much sugar causes tooth decay.
natural decay
Everything in our environment is subject to natural decay.
the process of decay
The natural processes of decay gradually destroys archaeological sites.
a sign of decay
I couldn't see any signs of decay on the fruit.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲