contamination
Americannoun
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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
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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:
Recycling aluminium, which can be done infinitely, means less is being extracted from bauxite mines, which have huge impacts on communities and the environment from habitat destruction, contamination of soil and harm to human health.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
“Even when food is available for testing, contamination can be uneven, so a negative test does not necessarily rule a product out,” Rimoin said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The system is designed to reduce contamination by pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
AFP was shown rows of bulky white chip-etching machines in a cleanroom, where conditions are closely controlled to stop dust contamination.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Most culturists, like George, were biologists; they knew nothing about preventing contamination.
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
“We had a jump in contaminations since the beginning of January, tripling the number of people infected,” Pazuello said Tuesday.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 27, 2021
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
The study of yeasts and the methods of keeping yeast from contaminations has revolutionised the brewing industry.
From The Story of Germ Life by Conn, H. W. (Herbert William)
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.
