contamination
[ kuh n-tam-uh-ney-shuh n ]
/ kənˌtæm əˈneɪ ʃən /
noun
the act of contaminating, or of making something impure or unsuitable by contact with something unclean, bad, etc.
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.
the state of being contaminated: The manufacturer recalled the product because of possible salmonella contamination.
Rare.
something that contaminates a place or substance, as by making it impure, unsuitable, harmful, or unusable; a contaminant.
Linguistics.
- 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.
- the process of forming blends.Compare blend(def 9).
Origin of contamination
1375–1425; late Middle English
contaminacioun < Late Latin
contāminātiōn- (stem of
contāminātiō), equivalent to
contāmināt(us) (see
contaminate) +
-iōn-
-ion
OTHER WORDS FROM contamination
non·con·tam·i·na·tion, noun re·con·tam·i·na·tion, noun self-con·tam·i·na·tion, nounWords nearby contamination
containment,
containment, policy of,
contakion,
contaminant,
contaminate,
contamination,
contango,
contd,
contd.,
conte,
contemn
Example sentences from the Web for contamination
British Dictionary definitions for contamination
contamination
/ (kənˌtæmɪˈneɪʃən) /
noun
the act or process of contaminating or the state of being contaminated
something that contaminates
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
Medical definitions for contamination
contamination
[ kən-tăm′ə-nā′shən ]
n.
The act or process of rendering something harmful or unsuitable.
The presence of extraneous, especially infectious, material that renders a substance or preparation impure or harmful.