Deactivation

//ˌdiːæktɪˈveɪʃən// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of deactivating something, such as a bomb or alarm. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the act of deactivating or making ineffective (as a bomb) wordnet
  3. 3
    breaking up a military unit (by transfers or discharges) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
breakupdefusingdemobilizationdetachmentdisbandmentdisintegration

Example

More examples

"Brain-scanning studies of artists being creative — improvising music, rapping or drawing caricatures — showed deactivation in a part of the brain involved in planning and monitoring behavior."

Etymology

From de- + activation.

Related phrases

deactivation energy

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.