contaminate

UK: /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/

US: /kənˈtæməˌneɪt/

US: (v. kən tam′ə nāt′; n., adj. kən tam′ə nit, -nāt′)

Inflections of 'contaminate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

contaminates

v 3rd person singular

contaminating

v pres p

contaminated

v past

contaminated

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•tam•i•nate /kənˈtæməˌneɪt/   v. [~ + object] , -nat•ed, -nat•ing. 

1. to make impure, harmful, or unusable by contact or mixture with something unclean; pollute;
   taint:
   The oil spill contaminated the sea.
2. to make (something) harmful by the addition of radioactive material:
   After the nuclear power plant accident, crops were badly contaminated in the area.

con•tam•i•na•ble /kənˈtæmənəbəl/  adj. 
con•tam•i•nat•ed, adj.: 

contaminated water supplies.

con•tam•i•na•tion /kənˌtæməˈneɪʃən/  n. 

[uncountable] trying to prevent contamination of our water supplies.

con•tam•i•na•tor, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•tam•i•nate  (v. kən tam′ə nāt′;n., adj. kən tam′ə nit, -nāt′), v., -nat•ed, -nat•ing, n., adj. 
v.t. 

1. to make impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean, bad, etc.:
   to contaminate a lake with sewage.
2. to render harmful or unusable by adding radioactive material to:
   to contaminate a laboratory.

n. 

3. something that contaminates or carries contamination;
   contaminant.

adj. 

4. [Obs.] contaminated.

• *tag-s-men, equivalent. to tag-, variant stem of tangere to touch + -s-men resultative noun, nominal suffix; compare examen
• Latin contāminātus, past participle of contāmināre to defile, spoil, equivalent. to con- con- + -tāminare, verb, verbal derivative of *tāmen something touched
• late Middle English contaminaten 1375–1425

con•tam′i•na•ble, adj. 
con•tam′i•na′tive, adj. 
con•tam′i•na′tor, n. 
con•tam′i•nous, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. defile, pollute, taint, infect, poison, corrupt.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

contaminate verb / kənˈtæmɪˌneɪt/(transitive)

1. to make impure, esp by touching or mixing; pollute
2. to make radioactive by the addition of radioactive material

adjective / kənˈtæmɪnɪt -ˌneɪt/

1. contaminated

Etymology: 15th Century: from Latin contamināre to defile; related to Latin contingere to touch

conˈtaminable adjective

conˈtaminant noun

conˈtamiˌnator noun