contaminant
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of contaminant
1920–25; < Latin contāminant- (stem of contāmināns ), present participle of contāmināre. See contaminate, -ant
Vocabulary lists containing contaminant
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.
She said researchers and government agencies have done a number of studies showing “that contaminant levels on aircraft are generally low and that health and safety standards are met.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025
One contaminant of particular concern was benzene, a carcinogen found in plastic and treated construction wood as well as wildfire smoke — which can enter water systems when they lose pressure during a fire.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025
And many studies look at only one contaminant at a time, he said.
From Science Daily • Nov. 19, 2024
The bacteria Bacillus cereus was found to be the contaminant in the cause of all three deaths.
From BBC • Nov. 19, 2024
Almost as an aside, he pointed out one possibility that other researchers hadn’t considered: all transformed cells seemed to behave identically to HeLa, he wrote, which could mean that HeLa was the contaminant.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
