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
- noncontamination noun
- recontamination noun
- self-contamination noun
Etymology
Origin of contamination
1375–1425; late Middle English contaminacioun < Late Latin contāminātiōn- (stem of contāminātiō ), equivalent to contāmināt ( us ) ( contaminate ) + -iōn- -ion
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.
Stacey's family of six have all switched to a dairy free diet to avoid any cross contamination in the kitchen, and Stacey and her husband make all of Brayen's school lunches.
From BBC
Despite being a highly regulated part of the American food industry, infant formula is still too susceptible to contamination.
From Salon
The court heard a number of people were outside due to the effects of "cross contamination".
From BBC
Imports from countries such as the US and Mexico may have been raised under poorer conditions, said Parkes, citing higher stocking densities and the use of chlorine washes to reduce bacterial contamination on chicken carcasses.
From BBC
Earlier this year it was announced that Sheen is also set to present a BBC investigation series into chemical contamination in Wales.
From BBC
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.
