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Glite Dictionary
to degauss

to degauss

3 9.9
Remove or reduce the magnetism of an object by using an opposite magnetic field
  • verb
  • /dɪˈɡɔs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : desmagnetizar
  • To ensure the data was unrecoverable, the technician decided to degauss the hard drive before disposal.

Examples

  • Technicians needed to degauss the computer monitor to eliminate visual distortions.

  • The navy crew degaussed the ship to protect it from magnetic mines.

  • You should degauss old hard drives before disposal for security reasons.

  • You should degauss the hard drive before disposal.

  • The technician degaussed the monitor yesterday.

  • After the storm caused a power surge, we had to degauss the equipment to restore its function.

  • In order to prevent interference, it's essential to degauss the old tapes before using them again.

Synonyms

to demagnetize
vsto degauss
  • Specialized
2 7.4

To remove magnetism from something so it is not magnetic, for example erasing data on a disk

uses a reverse magnetic field as the specific method to reduce magnetism

Antonyms

to magnetize
  • Specialized
8 5.9

To make something attract metal objects

How Demagnetized

to degauss
  • Specialized
3 9.9
to demagnetize
  • Specialized
2 7.4

Surface Forms

degauss infinitive
degaussed past
degaussed past participle
degaussing present participle
degausses third person singular

Morphology

degauss = gauss (semi-transparent) = de + gauss

Formally 'de-' + 'gauss' signals removal of magnetic effect, but 'gauss' is a technical/rare term (unit/person name) so the meaning may not be obvious to general learners.

Etymology

The word degauss combines the prefix de- meaning 'remove', as in defrost, and Gauss, the name for a unit of 'magnetic strength'. So to degauss something is to remove its magnetism.