contaminate
verb (used with object)
to make impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean, bad, etc..
had contaminated
-
past perfectof contaminate.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
Local residents had complained that exploration work had contaminated the water supply, threatened tourism and risked hastening the melting of glaciers, Kyrgyz media reported earlier this year.
From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025
Residents said newly dug hatcheries and ponds had contaminated neighboring communities’ water and soil, making it nearly impossible to grow crops, especially rice they depend on for food.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
Martha Spiess, a retired veterinarian, began testing streams and ponds in Brunswick, Maine, after hearing that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, had contaminated farms around the state.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2023
"We thought, if we didn't give blood and get told that we too had contaminated blood, we may be safe."
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2021
The dust which had contaminated most of the planet’s surface had originated in no country, and no one, even the wartime enemy, had planned on it.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
