Hypertext Webster Gateway: "disintegration"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Disintegration \Dis*in`te*gra"tion\, n.
(a) The process by which anything is disintegrated; the
condition of anything which is disintegrated.
Specifically
(b) (Geol.) The wearing away or falling to pieces of rocks or
strata, produced by atmospheric action, frost, ice, etc.
Society had need of further disintegration before
it could begin to reconstruct itself locally.
--Motley.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
disintegration
n 1: in a decomposed state [syn: {decomposition}]
2: separation into component parts [syn: {dissolution}]
3: the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive substance
along with the emission of ionizing radiation [syn: {decay},
{radioactive decay}]
4: total destruction; "bomb tests resulted in the annihilation
of the atoll" [syn: {annihilation}]
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