contaminate
/kənˈtamɪneɪt
/verb [with object]
Make (something) impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance: the site was found to be contaminated by radioactivity figurative celebrity has contaminated every aspect of public life (as adjective contaminated) contaminated blood products...
- Apparently parents emit poisonous substances which contaminate their kids in much the same way that humans pollute the environment.
- They added somebody stealing food can be jailed while those who poison people by contaminating food can get away scot free.
- Groundwater will be polluted, which would contaminate drinking water.
Synonyms
pollute, adulterate;
make impure, defile, debase, corrupt, taint, infect, blight, foul, spoil, soil, mar, impair, stain, befoul;
sully, tarnish;
poison;
radioactivate
formal vitiate
Derivatives
contaminator
- ‘Moisture is considered an oil contaminator, just like metal particles,’ Urbano continues.
- This cleaning system is designed to safely and easily remove these contaminators from all your input devices.
- It is not suitable for recycled aggregates because these may also contain inorganic contaminators.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin contaminat- 'made impure', from the verb contaminare, from contamen 'contact, pollution', from con- 'together with' + the base of tangere 'to touch'.
contact from early 17th century:
Contact and contagion (Late Middle English) both go back to Latin contingere ‘touched’ formed from con- ‘with’ and tangere ‘touch’. Contaminate (Late Middle English) is related.
Rhymes
- beat a path to someone's door
- beat a retreat
- be at a stand
- beatbox
- beatboxer
- beatboxing
- be at daggers drawn
- beat down
- be at each other's throats
- beaten
- beater
- beater bar
- beat frequency
- beat-frequency oscillator
- beat generation
- beatific
- beatifically
- beatification
- beatify
- beating
- beating-up
- beatitude
- Beatle-esque
- Beatlemania
- Beatlemaniac