infect
verb/ɪnˈfekt/
/ɪnˈfekt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they infect | /ɪnˈfekt/ /ɪnˈfekt/ |
| he / she / it infects | /ɪnˈfekts/ /ɪnˈfekts/ |
| past simple infected | /ɪnˈfektɪd/ /ɪnˈfektɪd/ |
| past participle infected | /ɪnˈfektɪd/ /ɪnˈfektɪd/ |
| -ing form infecting | /ɪnˈfektɪŋ/ /ɪnˈfektɪŋ/ |
- to make a disease or an illness spread to a person, an animal or a plant
- infect somebody/something (with something) It is not possible to infect another person through kissing.
- (be) infected with something people infected with the virus
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- [usually passive] to make a substance contain harmful bacteria that can spread disease synonym contaminate
- be infected (with something) The eggs were infected with salmonella.
- infect something (with something) to make a computer virus spread to another computer or programTopics Computersc1
- infect somebody (with something) to make somebody share a particular feeling
- She infected the children with her enthusiasm for music.
- The whole room was soon infected by his laughter.
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin infect- ‘tainted’, from the verb inficere, from in- ‘into’ + facere ‘put, do’.
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