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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
con·tam·i·nate    Audio Help   [v. kuhn-tam-uh-neyt; n., adj. kuhn-tam-uh-nit, -neyt] Pronunciation Key verb, -nat·ed, -nat·ing, noun, adjective
–verb (used with object)
1.to make impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean, bad, etc.: to contaminate a lake with sewage.
2.to render harmful or unusable by adding radioactive material to: to contaminate a laboratory.
–noun
3.something that contaminates or carries contamination; contaminant.
–adjective
4.Obsolete. contaminated.
[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME contaminaten < L contāminātus, ptp. of contāmināre to defile, spoil, equiv. to con- con- + -tāminare, v. deriv. of *tāmen something touched < *tag-s-men, equiv. to tag-, var. s. of tangere to touch + -s-men resultative n. suffix; cf. examen]

—Related forms
con·tam·i·na·ble, adjective
con·tam·i·na·tive, adjective
con·tam·i·na·tor, noun
con·tam·i·nous, adjective

—Synonyms 1. defile, pollute, taint, infect, poison, corrupt.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Contaminating

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
con·tam·i·nate    Audio Help   (kən-tām'ə-nāt')  Pronunciation Key 
tr.v.   con·tam·i·nated, con·tam·i·nat·ing, con·tam·i·nates
  1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture.
  2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity.

n.   (-nĭt)
One that contaminates; a contaminant.


[Middle English contaminaten, from Latin contāmināre, contāmināt-; see tag- in Indo-European roots.]

con·tam'i·na'tive adj., con·tam'i·na'tor n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to make dirty or impure: Pesticides contaminated the lake. Mud befouled my shoes. Noxious fumes fouled the air. Drugs poisoned her mind. Exhaust polluted the air. Improper storage tainted the food.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
contaminating

adjective
1. spreading pollution or contamination; especially radioactive contamination; "the air near the foundry was always dirty"; "a dirty bomb releases enormous amounts of long-lived radioactive fallout" [syn: dirty] [ant: clean] 
2. that infects or taints [syn: corrupting] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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