The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - decompose v.

1) disintegrate, separate, fall or come apart, break up or down, take apart, dissect, anatomize, atomize, resolve, decompound, analyse: By absorption the scientists decomposed the green light into yellow and blue. 2) rot, disintegrate, decay, moulder, putrefy; spoil, go off or bad, turn sour: The meat will decompose if it is left outside the fridge.