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pollute

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To pollute is to dirty, contaminate or corrupt something or someone.

(verb)

When you dump toxic waste into water, this is an example of a time when you pollute the water.

See pollute in Webster's New World College Dictionary

to make unclean, impure, or corrupt; defile; dirty
to contaminate (water, air, etc.) with harmful chemicals, waste material, etc.

Origin: ME poluten < L pollutus, pp. of polluere, to pollute < *por-, for per-, intens. + -luere, to soil < IE base *leu-, dirt > Gr lyma, dirt

Related Forms:

polluter noun
pollution noun

See pollute in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb pol·lut·ed, pol·lut·ing, pol·lutes

To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter. See Synonyms at contaminate.
To make less suitable for an activity, especially by the introduction of unwanted factors: The stadium lights polluted the sky around the observatory.
To render impure or morally harmful; corrupt.
To make ceremonially impure; profane: “Churches and altars were polluted by atrocious murders” (Edward Gibbon).

Origin:

Origin: Middle English polluten

Origin: , from Latin polluere, pollūt-

Related Forms: