What does degaussed mean?
To be degaussed is to have had one's magnetism deliberately removed or neutralized. The verb "degauss" applies chiefly to two contexts: the destruction of data on magnetic storage media, where running a strong alternating magnetic field over a tape or hard drive renders its contents unrecoverable, and the treatment of naval vessels, whose hulls are degaussed to minimize the magnetic signature that would otherwise trigger magnetic mines. The term derives from "gauss," the unit of magnetic flux density named for the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. Degaussing is a standard practice in information security, since wiping or reformatting alone can leave data recoverable, whereas a thorough degaussing destroys it beyond retrieval. The word carries a technical register and appears mostly in engineering, military, and data-security settings.
verbPast tense and past participle of "degauss": having had its magnetism removed or neutralized, especially from electronic equipment, magnetic storage media, or ships' hulls.
- To have been demagnetized, as with magnetic media such as tapes and hard drives, permanently erasing stored data.
- (Of a ship's hull) To have had residual magnetic fields reduced so as to evade magnetic mines.
"The technician degaussed the old hard drives before disposing of them."
"All the backup tapes were securely degaussed before being recycled."
"The navy degaussed the destroyer's hull to protect it against magnetic mines."
In World War II, Allied engineers degaussed entire warships by dragging huge electrical cables through their hulls, making them effectively invisible to German magnetic mines.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of degaussed
"Degauss" was formed in English in the early twentieth century from the prefix "de-" plus "gauss," the unit of magnetic induction named after the German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855). The term gained prominence during the Second World War with the degaussing of ship hulls to counter magnetic mines, and later spread into computing as a means of erasing magnetic media. Related coinages include "gaussian" (as in the Gaussian distribution) and multiples of the unit such as "megagauss."
Related word forms
How degaussed is actually used
Predominantly used in technical, military, and IT contexts; rare in everyday speech outside discussions of data destruction or electronics.
Easily confused with degaussed
"Defused" means having removed an explosive device's fuse or defused a tense situation, while "degaussed" means having removed magnetism from an object.