-ing verb form
Officially stopping the use of a building, ship, machine, or other equipment for its original purpose.
Workers are decommissioning the old power plant.
The navy is decommissioning two aging ships.
American English
How to pronounce decommissioning
verb · nounB2
deekuhMIHshuhnihng
/di.kəˈmɪ.ʃə.nɪŋ/
5 syllables · Stress the third syllable.
Form of decommission
Decommissioning can describe an action in progress or the process itself as a noun.
Officially stopping the use of a building, ship, machine, or other equipment for its original purpose.
Practice out loudMeanings & examples
gerund noun
The process of officially stopping the use of a building, ship, machine, or other equipment for its original purpose.
The decommissioning of the reactor will take five years.
Decommissioning the offshore platform is expensive.
Related words & forms
It does not always mean to destroy or dismantle something; it may simply mean to stop using it officially.