Crossword clues for decomposition
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Decomposition \De*com`po*si"tion\, n. [Pref. de- (in sense 3 intensive) + composition: cf. F. d['e]composition. Cf. Decomposition.]
The act or process of resolving the constituent parts of a compound body or substance into its elementary parts; separation into constituent part; analysis; the decay or dissolution consequent on the removal or alteration of some of the ingredients of a compound; disintegration; as, the decomposition of wood, rocks, etc.
The state of being reduced into original elements.
-
Repeated composition; a combination of compounds. [Obs.]
Decomposition of forces. Same as Resolution of forces, under Resolution.
Decomposition of light, the division of light into the prismatic colors.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1762, from de- + composition. An earlier word in the same form meant "further compounding of already composite things" (1650s).
Wiktionary
n. 1 A biological process through which organic material is reduced to e.g. compost 2 The act of taking something apart, e.g. for analysis 3 The splitting (of e.g. a matrix, an atom(,) or a compound) into constituent parts
WordNet
n. the analysis of a vector field [syn: vector decomposition]
in a decomposed state [syn: disintegration]
(chemistry) separation of a substance into two or more substances that may differ from each other and from the original substance [syn: decomposition reaction]
the organic phenomenon of rotting [syn: decay]
(biology) decaying caused by bacterial or fungal action [syn: rot, rotting, putrefaction]
Wikipedia
Decomposition is the process by which organic substances are broken down into much simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death. Animals, such as worms, also help decompose the organic materials. Organisms that do this are known as decomposers. Although no two organisms decompose in the same way, they all undergo the same sequential stages of decomposition. The science which studies decomposition is generally referred to as taphonomy from the Greek word τάφος taphos, meaning tomb.
One can differentiate abiotic from biotic decomposition ( biodegradation). The former means "degradation of a substance by chemical or physical processes, e.g., hydrolysis. The latter means "the metabolic breakdown of materials into simpler components by living organisms", typically by microorganisms.
Decomposition is the biological process through which organic material is reduced.
Decomposition, decompose, spoilage or spoiling may also refer to:
Decomposition in computer science, also known as factoring, is breaking a complex problem or system into parts that are easier to conceive, understand, program, and maintain.
Usage examples of "decomposition".
Then came the discovery that adrenochrome, which is a product of the decomposition of adrenalin, can produce many of the symptoms observed in mescalin intoxication.
One may also read that anerobic bacteria, acting upon matter of decomposition in swamps, generate methane, which is one of the constituents-as is hydrogen-of coal gas.
Surely, Monsieur Cacus, within, contains anerobic bacteria which act on the decaying matter animal and vegetable,, of which a decomposition product must be gas similar to coal gas.
Surely, Monsieur Cacus, within, contains anerobic bacteria which act on the decaying matter animal and vegetable, of which a decomposition product must be gas similar to coal gas.
Decomposition into sine waves corresponds very closely to how the human ear itself perceives and analyses sound.
The declining effectiveness of the Bretton Woods mechanisms and the decomposition of the monetary system of Fordism in the dominant countries made it clear that the reconstruction of an international system of capital would have to involve a comprehensive restructuring of economic relations and a paradigm shift in the definition of world command.
During the fermentation of dung, ulmic, humic, and other organic acids are formed, as well as gypsum, which fix the ammonia generated in the decomposition of the nitrogenized constituents of dung.
The human mind still speculates upon the great mysteries of nature, and still finds its ideas anticipated by the ancients, whose profoundest thoughts are to be looked for, not in their philosophies, but in their symbols, by which they endeavored to express the great ideas that vainly struggled for utterance in words, as they viewed the great circle of phenomena,--Birth, Life, Death, or Decomposition, and New Life out of Death and Rottenness,--to them the greatest of mysteries.
The soil, which is continually washed down by the rains into the rivers, is continually renewed by decomposition of the bed rock, and in the tropics this decomposition is more rapid than in temperate climes.
Until Boyd came along, the plastic had acted as an effective barrier to insects and other scavengers that hasten decomposition.
His sense of time telescoped, so that he could watch the insect-like, fluttering decay of free neutrons - or step back and watch the grand, slow decomposition of protons themselves .
In the course of a generation, more or less, physicians themselves are liable to get tired of a practice which has so little effect upon the average movement of vital decomposition.
Power is taking nourishment from the deaths of others, just as the mighty redwoods draw sustenance from the perpetual decomposition of what once lived, but lived only briefly, around them.
As the half-decomposed shells in the lower parts are associated with much common salt, together with some of the saline substances composing the upper saline layer, and as these shells are corroded and decayed in a remarkable manner, I strongly suspect that this double decomposition has here taken place.
Methane in and of itself is an easily recognizable odor, a product of the decomposition of organic matter in swamps and other fun places, or a result of the carbonization of coal.