fluoridate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fluoridate
First recorded in 1945–50; back formation from fluoridation
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:
State and local authorities decide for themselves whether to fluoridate the water supply.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2025
Many U.S. municipalities and other countries don’t fluoridate water for a variety of reasons, including opposition, feasibility and the ability to get fluoride other ways.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
Nashua, with 87,000 residents, is the largest city in the state that doesn’t fluoridate its public water system.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 12, 2015
In 2013, citizens in Portland, Ore., one of only a few major American cities that don’t fluoridate, blocked a plan by local officials to do so.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2015
“The fact that we collected so many signatures shows the citizens of Portland were really upset that they were going to fluoridate without a public vote,” says Kellie Barnes, spokeswoman for Clean Water Portland.
From Slate ● May 17, 2013
The program was so successful in improving dental health that by 1960, almost one-quarter of Americans were drinking from taps with fluoridated water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
Weerakoon saw firsthand what could become more common in the States when working at a school in Queensland where many children were not drinking fluoridated water.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2025
Northumbrian Water has been supplying artificially fluoridated water since the late 1960s to Chester-le-Street, Consett, and Stanley in County Durham, Alnwick, Hexham and Cramlington in Northumberland and parts of North Tyneside, Newcastle and Gateshead.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2025
"With the advent of fluoridated toothpaste, other countries without fluoride in the drinking water have similar caries occurrence as the US."
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2024
You can smell the sprinkler mist through the open window—mildly chlorinated, heavily fluoridated.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
She said fluoridating water supplies should be considered against costs and potential harms, and fluoride levels should be "actively" monitored.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2025
While fluoridating municipal water is voluntary, towns that do must maintain levels within the state’s recommendations and submit monthly reports to the state Health Department, according to state officials.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
Seymour, whose young daughter drinks city water, would “honestly be more concerned if there was a decision to stop fluoridating our water,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2019
Eleven small cities or towns have opted out of fluoridating their water this year, including Fairbanks, Alaska, which acted after much deliberation and a comprehensive evaluation by a panel of scientists, doctors and dentists.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2011
Dr. Barber's statistics came from a study conducted in Evanston, Ill., after ten years of fluoridating its water.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
