I. kənˈtaməˌnāt, usu -ād.+V transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin contaminatus, past participle of contaminare to bring into contact, contaminate; akin to Latin contingere to touch, pollute — more at contingent
1. : to soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association
a surgical wound contaminated by bacteria
believers contaminated by the presence of infidels
: make inferior or impure by mixture : pollute
iron contaminated by phosphorus
2. : to render unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements
water contaminated by sewage
contaminate a state the size of Maryland with radioactivity — R.E.Lapp
Synonyms:
taint , attaint , pollute , defile : these all mean to make impure or unclean. contaminate implies an action by something external to an object which by entering into or coming in contact with the object destroys its purity
the surgical wound became contaminated
the incoming air will not be contaminated with exhaust or oil fumes — H.G.Armstrong
you allowed your fine magazine to be contaminated with such a vicious, foul, and absurd writing — Fortune
taint usually suggests a less complete debasing than contaminate , often suggesting only a partial contamination, but stresses more strongly the sullied or stained quality of the thing acted upon
water … becomes tainted easily through smells and impurities in the air — Henry Wynmalen
the poison of greed, ambition, and vulgarity had not tainted the Italian air — Ann Bridge
attaint , less frequently used than taint , has come, because of etymological similarity, to be used as synonymous with taint though it suggests the idea of infection or of inevitable corruption following from an original sullying contact
our writers have been attainted by the disease they must help to cure — Waldo Frank
the slightest contact with them attaints and works corruption of the blood — G.W.Johnson
pollute carries strongly the idea of a completed process of contamination, especially and usually an offensive contamination
water polluted by garbage and other filth
defile implies a willful befouling of what ought to be kept clean, clear, or bright, frequently, therefore, suggesting violation, profanation or desecration
wheat which the mice ate or defiled — F.E.Garlough
cruelty is not only the worst accusation that can be brought against a man, defiling the whole character — Hilaire Belloc
the Sabbath should not be defiled — William McFee
II. adjective
Etymology: Latin contaminatus
obsolete : contaminated