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oxidize

[ok-si-dahyz] / ˈɒk sɪˌdaɪz /
VERB
convert into oxide
Synonyms
Antonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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“The presence of ferrihydrite tells us something specific about Mars' past environment,” Valentinas said, describing the cold and pH neutral waters that must have existed to oxidize the soil.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2025

"Ice is like armor. Melt it and you create windows for groundwater to get into rock that has not seen water and oxygen for millennia, and it will begin to oxidize quite quickly," Manning said.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2024

These, Borduas-Dedekind explains, oxidize in the air, forming larger molecules that can easily absorb water and form clouds.

From National Geographic ● Feb. 16, 2024

Over time, the shiny brass exterior will oxidize, giving the pencil holder a vintage, worn-in feel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

Perhaps there is an exotic inorganic chemistry in the Martian soil that is able by itself, in the absence of Martian microbes, to oxidize foodstuffs.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

When olive oil is exposed to fluctuations in temperature, light and air, which oxidizes the oil to its detriment, its quality diminishes.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2025

Exposure to air oxidizes the metal sulfides in bedrock, releasing the metals into groundwater, which flows into surface streams.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2024

Food is an organic compound: it congeals, runs, discolors and oxidizes over time and because of the conditions in the kitchen you’re shooting in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2023

A green, fuzzy coating grows on it as its surface oxidizes.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 20, 2023

"Over time, it partly oxidizes, which keeps providing sites for nutrients to bind to."

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Instead, they must generate it internally by breaking apart cystine, an oxidized form of cysteine.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026

They don’t have coffee, but they do have Jeju Island–grown “Regenerative Organic-Certified” black tea oxidized as matcha.

From Slate ● May 8, 2026

“I was talking about stale, oxidized matcha powder, but I completely get that it came off a very wrong way. I chose the wrong words and I really apologize for that.”

From Salon ● May 17, 2025

She also suggested the Republic of Tea’s Darjeeling Black Full Leaf Tea, which “is less oxidized than most black teas, so you're going to get more fruity flavors and more floral flavors,” Ziata explained.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025

While many of the clocks are wood, this one is predominantly dark, oxidized metal.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

At an Alaskan research station she inhales the scent of oxidizing permafrost: “Pleistocene-aged grass, mammoth bones, and thousands and thousands of years of microbial cells.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

And a 2016 US government study found perchlorate, an oxidizing agent used in fireworks, had made its way into groundwater and surface water around Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which holds annual July 4 shows.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

Outside the laboratory, other oxidizing pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, which cannot be tested in laboratory experiments because of their toxicity, can amplify the effect of ozone.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024

As described in a paper just published in the journal Advanced Materials, a thin layer of magnesium keeps tantalum from oxidizing, improves its purity, and raises the temperature at which it operates as a superconductor.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2024

The transition to an oxidizing atmosphere posed a supreme crisis in the history of life, and a great many organisms, unable to cope with oxygen, perished.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan


Vocabulary lists containing oxidize

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