contamination
Americannoun
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contaminations
plural
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the act of contaminating, or of making something impure or unsuitable by contact with something unclean, bad, etc.
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the act of contaminating, or of rendering something harmful or unusable by the addition of radioactive material.
the contamination of food following a nuclear attack.
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the state of being contaminated.
The manufacturer recalled the product because of possible salmonella contamination.
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Rare. something that contaminates a place or substance, as by making it impure, unsuitable, harmful, or unusable; a contaminant.
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Linguistics.
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an alternation in a linguistic form due to the influence of a related form, as the replacement in English of earlier femelle with female through the influence of male.
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the process of forming blends.
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noun
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the act or process of contaminating or the state of being contaminated
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something that contaminates
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linguistics the process by which one word or phrase is altered because of mistaken associations with another word or phrase; for example, the substitution of irregardless for regardless by association with such words as irrespective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of contamination
1375–1425; late Middle English contaminacioun < Late Latin contāminātiōn- (stem of contāminātiō ), equivalent to contāmināt ( us ) ( see contaminate) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Contamination is the unwanted pollution of something by another substance. When a nuclear power plant leaks radiation into the atmosphere, for example, it causes a contamination of the surrounding area. Contamination can also be used to refer to abstract ideas and concepts rather than to just physical things. The French complain that the increasing adoption of English words is a contamination of their linguistic heritage, and many parents today think rap music is a contamination of the public culture.
Vocabulary lists containing contamination
This Week in Words: March 23–29, 2019
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“The Court credits Defendant’s concerns regarding jury contamination and prediction-market activity as genuine,” Judge Tony Graf wrote in a ruling last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
The team's calculations show that tungsten contamination at a concentration of just one part in 10,000 can approximately double the pressure required to achieve fusion ignition.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
“By putting NOAA’s scientists and our leading research institutions to work mapping the contamination, tracking how it moves, and exploring cleanup through bioremediation, we can finally address this problem head-on.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The EA said it had already visited the site and was "continuing to investigate the source of contamination and its damage to the environment".
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
He started reading news reports about HeLa cells and the contamination problem and realized it would make a great story for Rolling Stone—the perfect mix of science and human interest.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Nephew said if time was short, the U.S. could also seek to dilute the material on-site by mixing it with natural uranium or destroy it, although that could cause chemical contaminations in the area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
The potential applications could include antimicrobial spray or coating to control foodborne pathogen contaminations at both pre-harvest and post-harvest stages, the researchers said.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024
Morocco on Saturday went so far as to ban all arrivals from China, regardless of nationality, “to avoid a new wave of contaminations in Morocco and all its consequences.”
From Washington Post ● Jan. 4, 2023
A freedom of information request by the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme to FSS showed various "contaminations" across the country.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2018
This was a concession to the prudence of parents, who feared all manner of contaminations from any communication between their children and such miserables.
From The Lost Lady of Lone by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
