contaminate (verb)
1contaminate — ► VERB ▪ make impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance. DERIVATIVES contaminant noun contamination noun contaminator noun. ORIGIN Latin contaminare make impure , from contamen contact, pollution …
2contaminate — con‧tam‧i‧nate [kənˈtæmneɪt] verb [transitive] 1. to make something dirty and dangerous, for example with chemicals or poison: • A large number of eggs were contaminated with salmonella. 2. INSURANCE to spoil goods carried by a ship, especially… …
3contaminate — verb Contaminate is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑waste Contaminate is used with these nouns as the object: ↑food, ↑water …
4contaminate — verb To introduce impurities or foreign matter; to soil or defile. Do not contaminate the peanut butter with the jelly. See Also: contaminable, contamination, contaminative …
5contaminate — I noun abomination, adulteration, befoulment, contagion, defilement, infection, poisoning, pollution, taint, vitiation II verb adulterate, befoul, corrupt, debase, defile, degenerate, degrade, denaturalize, desecrate, disease, impair, infect, mar …
6contaminate — verb (T) 1 to make a place or substance dirty and dangerous by adding something to it, for example chemicals or poison: fears that dumped waste might contaminate water supplies 2 to influence something in a way that has a bad effect contamination …
7contaminate — verb make (something) impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance. Derivatives contaminant noun contamination noun contaminator noun Origin ME: from L. contaminat , contaminare make impure , from contamen contact,… …
8contaminate — verb the river was contaminated with photographic chemicals Syn: pollute, adulterate; defile, debase, corrupt, taint, infect, foul, spoil, soil, stain, sully; poison; literary befoul See note at pollute Ant …
9contaminate — verb Syn: pollute, taint, poison, stain, adulterate, defile, debase, corrupt Ant: purify …
10contaminate — [15] Contaminate appears to come from the same ultimate source as contact, a base *tag ‘touch’, which produced the Latin verb tangere ‘touch’ (whence English tactile, tangent, and tangible). It seems also to have formed the basis of a compound… …
