decontaminatev.
/diːkənˈtamɪneɪt/ transitive. To remove contamination or the risk of contamination from (a person, area, etc.) affected by poison gas, radioactivity, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > removal of poisonous or radioactive contamination > remove poisonous or radioactive contamination [verb (transitive)]
decontaminate1936
1936 Daily Tel. 17 Oct. 13/5 Cars sped through the streets carrying men wearing gas-masks, whose task it was to decontaminate ‘mustard gas’ areas.
1938 Protection of Your Home against Air Raids 25 Mustard gas..‘contaminates’ clothing, or other objects exposed to it, making them dangerous to have near you or to touch until they have been ‘decontaminated’.
1948 Times 5 Mar. 3/2 The vessels..were still so radio-active that the cost of decontaminating them..would have been greater than their value as scrap.
1958 Observer 12 Oct. 1/3 The package was elaborately decontaminated both by chemicals and radiation to prevent the placing of any live organisms on the moon's surface.
1971 Nature 5 Feb. 363/2 Breeders pay too little attention to the arduous task of decontaminating buildings where infected birds have been housed, before moving in fresh, healthy stock.
Derivatives
decontamiˈnation n. the action or result of the verb; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > removal of poisonous or radioactive contamination > [noun]
decontamination1935
remediation1980
1935 Discovery July 186/2 The scheme of gas defence requires..that there should be an organisation for the decontamination of the areas affected.
1937 Evening News 15 Mar. 7/1 Decontamination squads, who would clear areas sprayed by mustard gas.
1955 Times 30 May 7/7 The techniques of decontamination..: a householder, on emerging from his cellar, should immediately take a broom and sweep down his roof.
1957 Times 12 Oct. 6/1 Traces of radioactivity lingered on his hands and he was given a pair of surgical gloves to wear until to-morrow when the decontamination process can be completed.
1966 D. F. Galouye Lost Perception ii. 18 The original airport had been swallowed by a gaping crater where, even after two years, decontamination crews were still scouring the inner slope.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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