Hypertext Webster Gateway: "contaminate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Contaminate \Con*tam"i*nate\ (k[o^]n*t[a^]m"[i^]*n[=a]t), v. t.
[imp. & p. p. {Contaminated}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Contaminating}.] [L. contaminatus, p. p. of contaminare to
bring into contact, to contaminate, fr. contamen contagion,
for contagmen; con- + root of tangere to touch. See
{Contact}.]
To soil, stain, or corrupt by contact; to tarnish; to sully;
to taint; to pollute; to defile.
Shall we now Contaminate our figures with base bribes?
--Shak.
I would neither have simplicity imposed upon, nor
virtue contaminated. --Goldsmith.
Syn: To pollute; defile; sully; taint; tarnish; soil; stain;
corrupt.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Contaminate \Con*tam"i*nate\ (-n[asl]t), a.
Contaminated; defiled; polluted; tainted. ``Contaminate
drink.'' --Daniel.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
contaminate
v 1: make impure; "The industrial wastes polluted the lake" [syn:
{pollute}, {foul}]
2: make radioactive by adding radioactive material; "Don't
drink the water--it's contaminated" [ant: {decontaminate}]
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