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to biodegrade

to biodegrade

2 4.4
To break down naturally into harmless parts when tiny living things like bacteria act on it
  • verb
  • /ˌbaɪoʊdɪˈɡreɪd/
translation icon : biodegradarse
  • Plastics are designed to biodegrade extremely slowly, and the cold temperature of seawater further slows this rate of degradation, increasing the amount of time plastics can persist in the oceans.

Do you know how long it takes for a plastic water bottle to biodegrade?

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Examples

  • Lesser thoughts involved his current project, an attempt to biodegrade plastic scrap.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The product must be able to sit in inventory until purchased, or sit on a shelf until used, and then it must biodegrade quickly.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Am I designing a product that will biodegrade in the environment after its useful life? 11.

    Academic text (2010)
  • It's generally not a big issue, as most ingredients are made from sources that biodegrade, but that appears to be changing.

    Blog text (2)
  • The filter is biodegradable, and the grounds, as others have said, are great in the garden and also biodegrade.

    Blog text (10)
  • Unlike many discarded materials, most plastics in common use do not biodegrade.

    Academic text (2003)
  • A cool feature of the Waterfall is that the body is non-toxic and will biodegrade in a landfill.

    Blog text (10)
  • To meet the claim of compostability, however, all of the blend components have to fully biodegrade under composting conditions and within the time frame of the composting process.

    Academic text (1995)
  • These compostable bags will biodegrade in less than six months when placed in a composting environment.

  • The old food in the landfill will take years to biodegrade, harming the environment.

Synonyms

to rot
vsto biodegrade
156 1.4

To decay and break down because of bacteria or mold

applies to any substance becoming harmless compounds rather than only spoilage
to decompose
vsto biodegrade
  • Specialized
37 4.4

To change dead plants and animals into simpler parts with help from bacteria or fungi

results in harmless compounds rather than only simpler substances
to decay
vsto biodegrade
22 3.4

To rot and break down because of bacteria and fungi

produces harmless compounds rather than just general spoilage

Antonyms

61 3.5

To keep existing for a long time, often longer than expected

Surface Forms

biodegrade infinitive
biodegraded past participle
biodegrading present participle
biodegrades third person singular

Morphology

biodegrade = degrade (semi-transparent) = bio + degrade

The word is built transparently from 'bio-' meaning living organisms and 'degrade', but the environmental-science sense is somewhat technical.

Etymology

The word biodegrade is made from bio- meaning 'life', as in biology, and degrade meaning 'to break down'. So to biodegrade is to be 'broken down by living things', which is why biodegradable materials disappear naturally over time.