contamination
Americannoun
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the act of contaminating, or of making something impure or unsuitable by contact with something unclean, bad, etc.
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the act of contaminating, or of rendering something harmful or unusable by the addition of radioactive material.
the contamination of food following a nuclear attack.
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the state of being contaminated.
The manufacturer recalled the product because of possible salmonella contamination.
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Rare. something that contaminates a place or substance, as by making it impure, unsuitable, harmful, or unusable; a contaminant.
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Linguistics.
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an alternation in a linguistic form due to the influence of a related form, as the replacement in English of earlier femelle with female through the influence of male.
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the process of forming blends.
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noun
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the act or process of contaminating or the state of being contaminated
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something that contaminates
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linguistics the process by which one word or phrase is altered because of mistaken associations with another word or phrase; for example, the substitution of irregardless for regardless by association with such words as irrespective
Other Word Forms
- noncontamination noun
- recontamination noun
- self-contamination noun
Etymology
Origin of contamination
1375–1425; late Middle English contaminacioun < Late Latin contāminātiōn- (stem of contāminātiō ), equivalent to contāmināt ( us ) ( contaminate ) + -iōn- -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That ability means contamination can make its way into the final product.
From Science Daily
Because plastic is widely used in medical and laboratory equipment, researchers took extra precautions to prevent contamination.
From Science Daily
Acai bowls were recalled over possible plastic contamination, while sesame miso salad and hot honey mustard dressing were recalled over undeclared allergens.
From Los Angeles Times
It said higher prices for gluten‑free products were largely due to "the specialist ingredients and stricter manufacturing processes needed to avoid cross‑contamination", which made them more expensive at wholesale.
From BBC
To prevent contamination, ice samples were sealed in sterile bags and transported in frozen conditions back to the laboratory.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
