pollute
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to make foul or unclean, especially with harmful chemical or waste products; dirty.
to pollute the air with smoke.
- Antonyms:
- purify
-
to make morally unclean; defile.
- Antonyms:
- purify
-
to render ceremonially impure; desecrate.
to pollute a house of worship.
-
Informal. to render less effective or efficient.
The use of inferior equipment has polluted the company's service.
verb
-
to contaminate, as with poisonous or harmful substances
-
to make morally corrupt or impure; sully
-
to desecrate or defile
Other Word Forms
- nonpolluting adjective
- polluter noun
- pollutive adjective
- unpolluting adjective
Etymology
Origin of pollute
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English polute, from Latin pollūtus, past participle of polluere “to soil, defile,” equivalent to pol-, assimilated variant of por- “forth, forward” (variant of prefix per- ), here marking completed action + -lū- base of -luere (akin to lutum “mud, dirt,” lustrum “muddy place”) + -tus past participle suffix; per-
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.
TotalEnergies and the plaintiffs are at odds over the reach of the definition of the environment -- whether it means risks on a local scale such as a polluted river or more broadly global warming.
From Barron's
In particular, the scientists wanted to measure how the rocket polluted what they call the "ignorosphere" -- because it is so difficult to study.
From Barron's
Scientists warn that as humans move more activities off-Earth, more debris will fall to Earth, polluting as it plummets.
From BBC
Kaddafi Polat rarely mentions his own health after decades of breathing the polluted air blanketing his village beneath the towering chimneys of a coal‑fired power plant in southern Turkey.
From Barron's
The Cirebon-1 plant was supposed to be in its final years, with its closure set for early 2035, as part of Indonesia's plans to wean itself from polluting coal with international support.
From Barron's
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.
