Meaning

2 senses
  1. (transitive)To separate or break down (something) into its components.

    Various fungi can decompose wood.

    Our team decomposed this task into several subtasks that could be successfully distributed.

    zerlegen, zerteilen, teilen

    разлага́тьrazlagátʹ, разложи́тьrazložítʹ, разбира́тьrazbirátʹ

    розклада́тиrozkladáty, розкла́стиrozklásty, розбиратиrozbyraty

    break down

  2. (intransitive)To rot, decay or putrefy.

    Plastics can take centuries to decompose.

    verrotten, verfallen, verfaulen

    разлага́тьсяrazlagátʹsja, разложи́тьсяrazložítʹsja

    розпадатисяrozpadatysja, розпастисяrozpastysja, розклада́тисяrozkladátysja

Examples

32 sentences
  1. A prism decomposes light.

    Призма розкладає світло. — aandrusiak

    ruПризма расщепляет свет. — odexed

    deEin Prisma zerlegt das Licht. — bluepie88

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · AlanF_US · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. Didn't you know that bodies decompose?

    ruТы разве не знал, что тела разлагаются? — Ooneykcall

    CC0 · Tatoeba · ddnktr · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. The body has already started decomposing.

    ruТруп уже начал разлагаться. — Wezel

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · kulupuJeti · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. Sami's body was decomposing in that closet.

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · OsoHombre · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. The beer bottle contained a decomposing snail.

    deIn der Bierflasche war eine verwesende Schnecke. — Yorwba

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · megamanenm · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 2
to separate:
to decay:
Русский
By meaning 2
to separate:
to decay:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
to separate:
to decay:

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French décomposer. Equivalent to de- + compose.

Borrowed from Middle French décomposer. Equivalent to de- + compose.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

decomposes, decomposing, decomposed, decomposed
Base formdecompose · to decompose
3rd person singulardecomposes
Present participledecomposing
Past simpledecomposed
Past participledecomposed

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theydecompose
he, she, itdecomposes

Past simpleLesson

all personsdecomposed

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave decomposed
he, she, ithas decomposed

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill decompose

Synonyms

8 synonyms
Close in meaning

Antonyms

3 antonyms

Word family

9 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
decompose — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto