dematerialize

English

WOTD – 9 November 2013, 9 November 2014

From de- +‎ materialize.

dematerialize (third-person singular simple present dematerializes, present participle dematerializing, simple past and past participle dematerialized) (American spelling, Oxford British English)

(intransitive) To disappear by becoming immaterial.
- 2002, Piers Anthony, Ogre, Ogre, page 9:
  Nightmares were, after all, a type of demon; they could dematerialize in much the way Fiant did.
- 2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 15:
  "So, I'll need you to look at the nth field targeting so when the object dematerializes from here, we can rematerialize it there."
(transitive) To cause something to disappear by making it immaterial.
- 2009, Etson White, Revelation of God, page 161:
  Some magicians claim they can dematerialize their bodies and re-materialize them in a different location.
(transitive) To remove the physical materials from (a process, etc.).
- 2013, Mike Friedrichsen, Wolfgang Mühl-Benninghaus, Handbook of Social Media Management:
  Even though the book is still a difficult object to dematerialize and the paper books are not replaceable, the trend seems to be to prefer an e-book rather than a physical book […]

(intransitive) to disappear by becoming immaterial

(transitive) to cause to disappear by becoming immaterial

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