contamination
Americannoun
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the act of contaminating, or of making something impure or unsuitable by contact with something unclean, bad, etc.
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the act of contaminating, or of rendering something harmful or unusable by the addition of radioactive material.
the contamination of food following a nuclear attack.
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the state of being contaminated.
The manufacturer recalled the product because of possible salmonella contamination.
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Rare. something that contaminates a place or substance, as by making it impure, unsuitable, harmful, or unusable; a contaminant.
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Linguistics.
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an alternation in a linguistic form due to the influence of a related form, as the replacement in English of earlier femelle with female through the influence of male.
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the process of forming blends.
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noun
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the act or process of contaminating or the state of being contaminated
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something that contaminates
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linguistics the process by which one word or phrase is altered because of mistaken associations with another word or phrase; for example, the substitution of irregardless for regardless by association with such words as irrespective
Other Word Forms
- noncontamination noun
- recontamination noun
- self-contamination noun
Etymology
Origin of contamination
1375–1425; late Middle English contaminacioun < Late Latin contāminātiōn- (stem of contāminātiō ), equivalent to contāmināt ( us ) ( contaminate ) + -iōn- -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One concern is that washing could create a lead-containing residue inside machines, which might need to be cleaned to prevent releasing contamination into wastewater.
From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026
Despite this challenge, Clough and McNeil, working with graduate student Eduardo Ochoa Rivera and statistics professor Ambuj Tewari, developed methods to separate true microplastics from glove-related contamination.
From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026
Opponents remain concerned, however, that the approach is invasive, and that there is a risk of accidental contamination and a potential false positive.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
Compared to last year’s list, nectarines bested both peaches and cherries in pesticide contamination, increasing their ranking from seventh place to fifth.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026
Dr. Poitevint’s report brings up a significant problem about the contamination of milk.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
