pol ‧ lute /pəˈluːt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: past participle of polluere ]
1 . to make air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use:
beaches polluted by raw sewage
The factory pollutes the air and water.
heavily/severely/badly etc polluted
The island has been seriously polluted by a copper mine.
pollute something with something
The rivers had been polluted with aluminium.
2 . to spoil or ruin something that used to be good:
an artist spiritually polluted by money and fame
3 . pollute sb’s mind to give someone immoral thoughts and spoil their character:
Violence on television is polluting the minds of our children.