- 1contaminate something (with something) to make a substance or place dirty or no longer pure by adding a substance that is dangerous or carries disease synonym adulterate The drinking water has become contaminated with lead. contaminated blood/food/soil a river contaminated by pollution
- 2contaminate something (formal) to influence people's ideas or attitudes in a bad way They were accused of contaminating the minds of our young people. see uncontaminated
contaminate
verbNAmE//kənˈtæməˌneɪt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they contaminate he / she / it contaminates
past simple contaminated
-ing form contaminating
NAmE//kənˌtæməˈneɪʃn//
noun [uncountable] radioactive contamination see cross-contaminationSee contaminate in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: contaminate