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contamination

UK/kənˌtæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/US/kənˌtæm.əˈneɪ.ʃən/
nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,719 of 15,258leans written

Contamination is the spoiling of something by an unwanted substance. Cross contamination, radioactive contamination, avoid contamination.

In a kitchen, cross contamination means raw meat touching what will not be cooked, and it is what separate boards are for. In a laboratory it means a sample is ruined and the result cannot be trusted, which is why so much of the work is cleaning.

Definitions of contamination

  1. 1nouncontaminationThe spoiling of something by an unwanted substance.B2+

    “The water supply was shut off after tests showed contamination from a nearby factory.”

contamination is a spoiling.

Where it comes from

Latin contaminatio comes from contaminare, to mingle or defile, from a root meaning contact.

  1. Latin

    contāminātiō

  2. English, today

    contamination

From Latin contāminātiō.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

contamination in the wild

  • Major forms of pollution include air pollution, water pollution, litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution, light pollution, and visual pollution.

    Pollution

  • Forward contamination is the transfer of viable organisms from Earth to another celestial body.

    Planetary protection

  • Arsenic contamination of ground water is found in many countries throughout the world, including the US.

    Arsenic contamination of groundwater

  • Non-biological forms of contamination have also been considered, including contamination of sensitive deposits (such as lunar polar ice deposits) of scientific interest.

    Interplanetary contamination

  • So, back contamination would be prevented mainly by containment, and breaking the chain of contact between the planet of origin and Earth.

    Interplanetary contamination

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.