contaminate

transitive-verb
UK: /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/
US: /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/

  1. To make something dirty or harmful by adding something bad to it.

    1. Don't contaminate the water with oil.
    2. The spill could contaminate the soil for many years to come due to toxic waste.

  2. To damage something good by association.

    1. The scandal could contaminate his reputation.
    2. The fear is that the violence will contaminate the peace process, making a solution impossible.

Synonyms

pollute taint defile foul dirty infect
contaminate intransitive-verb

  1. To become impure or harmful through contact with something unclean.

    1. The river can contaminate if we are not careful.
    2. Without proper safety measures, the lab samples will quickly contaminate, leading to inaccurate test results.
contaminate adjective

  1. Having been made impure or dangerous by contact with something harmful; polluted.

    1. The water is contaminate.
    2. Once the food source becomes contaminate, the spread of disease is rapid.

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "contaminate" in English means: To make something dirty or harmful by adding something bad to it., To damage something good by association..

The phonetic transcription of "contaminate" is /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/ in British English and /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "contaminate": pollute, taint, defile, foul, dirty, infect.

Example usage of "contaminate": "Don't contaminate the water with oil.". More examples on the page.