Meanings
present singular third person degausses · participle present degaussing · participle past degaussed · past degaussed
- transitiveTo reduce or eliminate the magnetic field from (the hull of a ship, or a computer monitor, etc.).
Despite sustaining some damage from air attacks, it was used as a mooring point for large landing crafts with a deep draught in the lead-up to the D-Day landings, and later for the purpose of degaussing vessels.
2020 October 21, Dr Joseph Brennan, “From the main line and over the waves”, in Rail, page 59Synonyms: demagnetise, deperm
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo reduce or eliminate the magnetic field from (the hull of a ship, or a computer monitor, etc.).
nounThe act by which something is degaussed.
More synonyms by meaning
verbmake nonmagnetic; take away the magnetic properties (of)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From de- + gauss (“unit of magnetic field strength”). A neologism coined by then-Commander Charles F. Goodeve, RCNVR, during World War II.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 消磁
- 消磁 (xiāocí)to reduce a magnetic field
Finnish demagnetoida, demagnetointi
- demagnetoidato reduce a magnetic field
- demagnetointiact by which something is degaussed
French dégausser
- dégausserto reduce a magnetic field
Icelandic afsegulmagna, upphefja segulkraft
- afsegulmagnato reduce a magnetic field
- upphefja segulkraftto reduce a magnetic field
Lithuanian išmagnetinti
- išmagnetintito reduce a magnetic field
Polish rozmagnesowywać, rozmagnesować
- rozmagnesowywaćto reduce a magnetic field
- rozmagnesowaćto reduce a magnetic field
- demagnetyzowaćto reduce a magnetic field
- zdemagnetyzowaćto reduce a magnetic field
- rozmagnesowanieact by which something is degaussed
- demagnetyzacjaact by which something is degaussed
Russian размагни́чивать, размагни́тить
- размагни́чивать (razmagníčivatʹ)to reduce a magnetic field
- размагни́тить (razmagnítitʹ)to reduce a magnetic field
- размагни́чивание (razmagníčivanije)act by which something is degaussed
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with degauss
Anagrams
Cite this entry
degauss. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degauss
“degauss.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degauss. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “degauss,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degauss.
Source: degauss on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.