From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Contaminate \Con*tam"i*nate\ (k[o^]n*t[a^]m"[i^]*n[=a]t), verb (used with an object) [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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Contaminate \Con*tam"i*nate\ (-n[asl]t), adjective Contaminated; defiled; polluted; tainted. ''Contaminate drink.'' --Daniel.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
verb
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}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
66 Moby Thesaurus words for "contaminate": activate, adulterate, alloy, bastardize, befoul, benasty, canker, charge, cheapen, coarsen, confound, corrupt, cut, debase, debauch, defile, deflower, degenerate, degrade, denaturalize, denature, deprave, desecrate, despoil, devalue, dilute, dirty, disease, distort, doctor, doctor up, fortify, foul, harm, infect, injure, irradiate, lace, mess, mess up, misuse, nasty, pervert, poison, pollute, prostitute, radiumize, ravage, ravish, rot, soil, spike, spoil, stain, sully, taint, tamper with, tarnish, twist, ulcerate, violate, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, water, water down
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