contaminate
verbVerb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they contaminate | |
| he / she / it contaminates | |
| past simple contaminated | |
| past participle contaminated | |
| -ing form contaminating |
- contaminate something (with something)
to make a substance or place dirty or no longer pure by adding a substance that is dangerous or carries disease 污染；弄脏 The drinking water has become contaminated with lead. 饮用水被铅污染了。 contaminated blood/food/soil 受到污染的血液／食物／土壤 a river contaminated by pollution 被污染污染的河流 These substances can contaminate groundwater. 这些物质会污染地下水。
- contaminate something (formal)
to influence people’s ideas or attitudes in a bad way 玷污，毒害，腐蚀（人的思想或品德） see also uncontaminated
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin contaminat- ‘made impure’, from the verb contaminare, from contamen ‘contact, pollution’, from con- ‘together with’ + the base of tangere ‘to touch’.