any organism in a community, such as a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down dead tissue enabling the constituents to be recycled to the environment
See also consumer (sense 3), producer (sense 8)
decomposer in American English
(ˌdikəmˈpouzər)
noun
1.
a person or thing that decomposes
2. Ecology
an organism, usually a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down the cells of dead plantsand animals into simpler substances
Word origin
[1815–25; decompose + -er1]This word is first recorded in the period 1815–25. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: diorama, heuristic, pullout, reamer, welterweight-er is a suffix used in forming nouns designating persons from the object of their occupationor labor (hatter; tiler; tinner; moonshiner), or from their place of origin or abode (Icelander; southerner; villager), or designating either persons or things from some special characteristic or circumstance(six-footer; three-master; teetotaler; fiver; tenner)
Examples of 'decomposer' in a sentence
decomposer
A more dramatic decomposer is a fat, reddish earthworm called the lob worm.