contaminate
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
adjective
verb
-
to make impure, esp by touching or mixing; pollute
-
to make radioactive by the addition of radioactive material
adjective
Other Word Forms
- contaminable adjective
- contaminant noun
- contaminative adjective
- contaminator noun
- contaminous adjective
- noncontaminable adjective
- noncontaminative adjective
- recontaminate verb (used with object)
- self-contaminating adjective
- uncontaminable adjective
- uncontaminated adjective
- uncontaminative adjective
Etymology
Origin of contaminate
1375–1425; late Middle English contaminaten < Latin contāminātus, past participle of contāmināre to defile, spoil, equivalent to con- con- + -tāminare, verbal derivative of *tāmen something touched < *tag-s-men, equivalent to tag-, variant stem of tangere to touch + -s-men resultative noun suffix; examen
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.
"The tap water in our house is still contaminated and it stinks," she says.
From BBC
The inspectors also reported crews spraying contaminated pool water onto neighboring properties and into storm drains, and excavator operators using toothed buckets that caused clean and contaminated soil to be commingled.
From Los Angeles Times
Particles emitted from a fusion plasma will erode the reactor wall, contaminating the plasma and rendering most known materials brittle and porous within months.
Counterfeit and contaminated products could be crushed by a forklift or incinerated.
Some ranchers worry that wastewater might contaminate sources of groundwater and imperil their operations.
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.
