| 释义 |
decontaminate, v.|diːkənˈtæmɪneɪt|
[f. de- II. 1 + contaminate v.]
trans. To remove contamination or the risk of contamination from (a person, area, etc.) affected by poison gas, radioactivity, etc.
1936Daily Tel. 17 Oct. 13/5 Cars sped through the streets carrying men wearing gas-masks, whose task it was to decontaminate ‘mustard gas’ areas. 1938Protection 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’. 1948Times 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. 1958Observer 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. 1971Nature 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.
So decontamiˈnation, the action or result of the verb; also attrib.
1935Discovery July 186/2 The scheme of gas defence requires..that there should be an organisation for the decontamination of the areas affected. 1937Evening News 15 Mar. 7/1 Decontamination squads, who would clear areas sprayed by mustard gas. 1955Times 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. 1957Ibid. 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. 1966D. 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. |
