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pollutive

 - 3 dictionary results

pol⋅lute

  [puh-loot]
Use pollutive in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -lut⋅ed, -lut⋅ing.
1. to make foul or unclean, esp. with harmful chemical or waste products; dirty: to pollute the air with smoke.
2. to make morally unclean; defile.
3. to render ceremonially impure; desecrate: to pollute a house of worship.
4. Informal. to render less effective or efficient: The use of inferior equipment has polluted the company's service.
Origin:
1325–75; ME polute < L pollūtus ptp. of polluere to soil, defile, equiv. to pol-, assimilated var. of por- (see pollicitation; here marking the action as complete) + -lū- base of -luere (akin to lutum mud, dirt, lustrum muddy place) + -tus ptp. suffix

Related forms:
pol⋅lut⋅er, noun
pol⋅lu⋅tive, adjective

Synonyms:
1. soil, befoul. 2. taint, contaminate, vitiate, corrupt, debase, deprave.

Antonyms:
1, 2. purify.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: pol·lute
Pronunciation: p&-'lüt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: pol·lut·ed;pol·lut·ing
1 : to make physically impure or unclean
2 : to contaminate (an environment) especially with man-made waste —pol·lut·er noun —pol·lut·ive /-'lüt-iv/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

pollute pol·lute (pə-l&oomacr;t')
v. pol·lut·ed, pol·lut·ing, pol·lutes

  1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter; contaminate.

  2. To make less suitable for an activity, especially by the introduction of unwanted factors.

pol·lut'er n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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