contaminating

con·tam·i·nate

 (kən-tăm′ə-nāt′)

tr.v. con·tam·i·nat·ed, con·tam·i·nat·ing, con·tam·i·nates

1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture.

2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity.

3. Linguistics To influence the semantic properties or phonological form of (a word or phrase); blend with: The Middle English word femelle was contaminated by the word male, resulting in the modern form female.

n. (-nĭt)

One that contaminates; a contaminant.

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[Middle English contaminaten, from Latin contāmināre, contāmināt-; see tag- in Indo-European roots.]

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con·tam′i·na′tive adj.

con·tam′i·na′tor n.

Synonyms: contaminate, befoul, foul, poison, pollute, taint
These verbs mean to make dirty or impure: Pesticides contaminated the lake. Mud befouled his shoes. Noxious fumes foul the air. Farm runoff poisoned the fish. Exhaust polluted the air. Improper storage tainted the food.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	contaminating - spreading pollution or contamination; especially radioactive contamination; "the air near the foundry was always dirty"; "a dirty bomb releases enormous amounts of long-lived radioactive fallout" dirty
	2.	contaminating - that infects or taints corrupting infectious - easily spread; "fear is exceedingly infectious; children catch it from their elders"- Bertrand Russell

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.