as in rusting
to combine chemically with oxygen
Iron will oxidize if it is exposed to air and moisture.
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Recent Examples of oxidizing
In the hole, life drops away quickly as oxygen disappears, below the surface (Oxic Zone) and transition levels (Suboxic Zone); at 100-140 m (330-460 ft), the third layer called the Anoxic Zone I is almost completely dominated by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
—
New Atlas, 28 Dec. 2025
Those flies themselves depend on sulfur-oxidizing microbes as their primary food source.
—Humberto Basilio, Scientific American, 7 Nov. 2025
What's more, the oxidizing process would simply start again, and the entire structure would turn green again in a few short years.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Looking ahead, the team plans to add protective coatings to enable the device to survive open-air use without oxidizing.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2025
Today, the entire industrialized world is held up by the energy released by oxidizing organic carbon back to CO2.
—Peter Brannen, Big Think, 28 Aug. 2025
New Atlas, 28 Dec. 2025
Those flies themselves depend on sulfur-oxidizing microbes as their primary food source.
—Humberto Basilio, Scientific American, 7 Nov. 2025
What's more, the oxidizing process would simply start again, and the entire structure would turn green again in a few short years.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Looking ahead, the team plans to add protective coatings to enable the device to survive open-air use without oxidizing.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2025
Today, the entire industrialized world is held up by the energy released by oxidizing organic carbon back to CO2.
—Peter Brannen, Big Think, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oxidizing
Verb
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Due to its strength, contact with even a diluted bleach solution can cause pitting (localized, severe corrosion causing small holes) and rusting on blades.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
3 Feb. 2026
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Check out these recommendations on how to properly store a cast-iron lid and keep your cast iron from rusting.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Funk assures that the softened, decomposing cardboard will allow plants to grow through.—
Patricia Shannon,
Southern Living,
9 Feb. 2026
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Jon Hallford, a southern Colorado funeral home owner who stashed nearly 200 decomposing bodies and gave families fake ashes, was sentenced on state charges on Friday.—
Maria Braganini,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Andrew Jackson, an equity analyst at Ortus Advisors, said that investors were also reacting to Arm's guidance only slightly beating estimates, as well as a poor outlook delivered by its chip design customer Qualcomm.—
Dylan Butts,
CNBC,
5 Feb. 2026
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Reporters asked about why no Black head coaches were hired in this recent cycle, how Goodell feels about halftime performer Bad Bunny’s political comments at the Grammy’s and how the league is reacting to New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch’s frequent communications with Jeffrey Epstein.—
Scott Soshnick,
Sportico.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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This vacuum was meant to prevent the tungsten filament––that’s the little wire inside the bulb, the thing that glows––from burning up and disintegrating immediately, which is what a very hot piece of metal would do in the presence of oxygen.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
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As in a seventeenth-century poem by John Donne, George Herbert, or Andrew Marvell, the fraught human body is a microcosm, a mirror to the larger disintegrating world spirit.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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With ceilings crumbling and utilities failing, residents are looking to the courts to intervene.—
Elle McLogan,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
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Louvre Museum tightens security measures News of the robbery shocked the world and sparked criticism over the museum's inadequate security and crumbling infrastructure.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As the song progresses, more elements—slow-moving filter sweeps, waltzing arpeggios, a deep and doomy bassline—appear and disappear, moving into the fore of the stereo field before corroding and flaking away.—
Dash Lewis,
Pitchfork,
29 Jan. 2026
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In the 1980s, I was impressed by Neil Postman’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death, which argued that television was corroding American society and democracy.—
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Oxidizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oxidizing. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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