Question

biodegradable Though the advertisements promised that the entire package was biodegradable, environmentalists expressed their doubts. ˌbaɪoʊdəˈgreɪdəbəl

Accepted Answer

Able to be broken down into harmless substances by microorganisms or other living things. In biodegradable, with its root grad, “to step or move,” and its prefix de- “downward,” we get an adjective describing things that can be broken down into basic substances through normal environmental processes. Animal and plant products are normally biodegradable, but mineral substances such as metals, glass, and plastics usually are not. Newly developed biodegradable plastics are now appearing in numerous products. However, “biodegradable” products can vary greatly in how long they take to break down. A loaf of bread may require only a couple of weeks, and a piece of paper may vanish in a couple of months, but some “biodegradable” plastic milk cartons may take four or five years.

word	biodegradable
definition	Able to be broken down into harmless substances by microorganisms or other living things.
eg_sentence	Though the advertisements promised that the entire package was biodegradable, environmentalists expressed their doubts.
explanation	In biodegradable, with its root grad, “to step or move,” and its prefix de- “downward,” we get an adjective describing things that can be broken down into basic substances through normal environmental processes. Animal and plant products are normally biodegradable, but mineral substances such as metals, glass, and plastics usually are not. Newly developed biodegradable plastics are now appearing in numerous products. However, “biodegradable” products can vary greatly in how long they take to break down. A loaf of bread may require only a couple of weeks, and a piece of paper may vanish in a couple of months, but some “biodegradable” plastic milk cartons may take four or five years.
IPA	ˌbaɪoʊdəˈgreɪdəbəl

Substances Biodegradable Broken Products Plastics Couple Harmless Microorganisms