Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act or result of decomposing; disintegration.
- noun Chemistry Separation into constituents by chemical reaction.
- noun Biology Breakdown or decay of organic materials.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act or process of separating the constituent elements of a compound body or substance; analysis; resolution; specifically, the process of reducing an organic body to a state of decay or putrefaction.
- noun The state of being decomposed or resolved; release from previous combinations; disintegration; specifically, decay of an organic body.
- noun [With ref. to decomposite, q. v.] The act of compounding together things which are themselves compound; a combination of compounds.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act or process of resolving the constituent parts of a compound body or substance into its elementary parts; separation into constituent part; analysis; the decay or dissolution consequent on the removal or alteration of some of the ingredients of a compound; disintegration
- noun The state of being reduced into original elements.
- noun obsolete Repeated composition; a combination of compounds.
- noun Same as Resolution of forces, under
Resolution . - noun the division of light into the prismatic colors.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A biological process through which organic material is reduced to e.g.
compost - noun The act of taking something apart, e.g. for analysis
- noun The splitting (of e.g. a
matrix , anatom , or acompound ) into constituent parts
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action
- noun in a decomposed state
- noun the organic phenomenon of rotting
- noun (chemistry) separation of a substance into two or more substances that may differ from each other and from the original substance
- noun the analysis of a vector field
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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_inseparable in such bodies as these_, namely, the passing of a current, and decomposition; and this is as true of the cells in the battery as of the water cell; for no voltaic battery has as yet been constructed in which the chemical action is only that of combination: _decomposition is always included_, and is, I believe, an essential chemical part.
Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 Michael Faraday 1829
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_decomposition_ as a mere co-relative, _i. e._ as decomposition relatively to the body decomposed, but composition _actually_ and in respect of the substances, _into_ which it was decomposed.
Hints towards the formation of a more comprehensive theory of life. Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1803
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Protein decomposition, which is apt to cause heavy financial losses, ceases almost altogether.
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UPDATE, 10/13: To help readers chart the Happy Meal's non-decomposition from a bird's-eye view, here are Davies '27 photos (ordered chronologically from left to right) in' contact sheet 'form:
PHOTOS: McDonald's Happy Meal Unchanged After 6 Months On A Table [Updated] Huffington Post 2010
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UPDATE, 10/13: To help readers chart the Happy Meal's non-decomposition from a bird's-eye view, here are Davies '27 photos (ordered chronologically from left to right) in' contact sheet 'form:
PHOTOS: McDonald's Happy Meal Unchanged After 6 Months On A Table [Updated] The Huffington Post News Team 2010
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Even supposing that the common elements, too, may be suffering disintegration over a period of countless eons, this decomposition is so exceedingly slow that in all the ordinary concerns of humanity these common elements may be considered as permanent.
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Yes, local CNN affiliate WKMG says the DNA results show it appears to be Caylee ` s hair in the car trunk, and that station also reporting the hair showed signs of decomposition, which is certainly ominous.
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These changes are largely of a nature that the chemist knows as decomposition changes.
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Such products are in general called decomposition products, or sometimes cleavage products.
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The spoiling of eggs is due to decomposition, which is caused by molds or bacteria that result from accidental causes, and, in fertile eggs, to the germination and development of the chick, which is a natural process.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 2: Milk, Butter and Cheese; Eggs; Vegetables
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