Transcription
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
-
- [verb kuh n-tam-uh-neyt; noun, adjective kuh n-tam-uh-nit, -neyt]
- /verb kənˈtæm əˌneɪt; noun, adjective kənˈtæm ə nɪt, -ˌneɪt/
- /kənˈtæm.ɪ.neɪt/
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [verb kuh n-tam-uh-neyt; noun, adjective kuh n-tam-uh-nit, -neyt]
- /verb kənˈtæm əˌneɪt; noun, adjective kənˈtæm ə nɪt, -ˌneɪt/
Definitions of contaminate word
- verb contaminate If something is contaminated by dirt, chemicals, or radiation, they make it dirty or harmful. 3
- verb contaminate to make impure, esp by touching or mixing; pollute 3
- verb contaminate to make radioactive by the addition of radioactive material 3
- abbreviation CONTAMINATE contaminated 3
- verb transitive contaminate to make impure, infected, corrupt, radioactive, etc. by contact with or addition of something; pollute; defile; sully; taint 3
- verb with object contaminate to make impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean, bad, etc.: to contaminate a lake with sewage. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of contaminate
First appearance:
before 1375 One of the 22% oldest English words
1375-1425; late Middle English contaminaten < Latin contāminātus, past participle of contāmināre to defile, spoil, equivalent to con- con- + -tāminare, verbal derivative of *tāmen something touched < *tag-s-men, equivalent to tag-, variant stem of tangere to touch + -s-men resultative noun suffix; cf. examen
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Contaminate
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
contaminate popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 71% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.
contaminate usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for contaminate
verb contaminate
- harm — a U.S. air-to-surface missile designed to detect and destroy radar sites by homing on their emissions.
- pollute — to make foul or unclean, especially with harmful chemical or waste products; dirty: to pollute the air with smoke.
- injure — to do or cause harm of any kind to; damage; hurt; impair: to injure one's hand.
- tarnish — to dull the luster of (a metallic surface), especially by oxidation; discolor.
- infect — to affect or contaminate (a person, organ, wound, etc.) with disease-producing germs.
Antonyms for contaminate
verb contaminate
- aid — Aid is money, equipment, or services that are provided for people, countries, or organizations who need them but cannot provide them for themselves.
- assist — If you assist someone, you help them to do a job or task by doing part of the work for them.
- improve — to bring into a more desirable or excellent condition: He took vitamins to improve his health.
- mend — to make (something broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound, or usable by repairing: to mend old clothes; to mend a broken toy.
- clean — Something that is clean is free from dirt or unwanted marks.
Top questions with contaminate
- food handlers can contaminate food when they?
- what does contaminate mean?
- how food handlers can contaminate food?
- what is contaminate?
- how does fracking contaminate water?
- how does salmonella contaminate food?
- how can food handlers contaminate food?
- how does fracking contaminate groundwater?
- what is a contaminate?
- which action could contaminate food at a self service area?
- what does contaminate?
- how to contaminate a urine test?
- how does listeria contaminate food?
- what can contaminate a river during dredging?
- how does bacteria contaminate food?
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with c
- Words starting with co
- Words starting with con
- Words starting with cont
- Words starting with conta
- Words starting with contam
- Words starting with contami
- Words starting with contamin
- Words starting with contamina
- Words starting with contaminat
- Words starting with contaminate