INFECT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does infect mean? 

• INFECT (verb)
  The verb INFECT has 4 senses:

1. communicate a disease to

2. contaminate with a disease or microorganism

3. corrupt with ideas or an ideology

4. affect in a contagious way

  Familiarity information: INFECT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INFECT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they infect    ... he / she / it infects   
Past simple: infected   
Past participle: infected   
-ing form: infecting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Communicate a disease to

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

Your children have infected you with this head cold

Hypernyms (to "infect" is one way to...):

give (cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "infect"):

canker (infect with a canker)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody with something

Derivation:

infection (an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted)

infective (able to cause disease)

infective (caused by infection or capable of causing infection)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Contaminate with a disease or microorganism

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

infect; taint

Hypernyms (to "infect" is one way to...):

contaminate; foul; pollute (make impure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "infect"):

superinfect (infect (an infected cell) further or infect a cell already containing similar organisms)

smut (affect with smut or mildew, as of a crop such as corn)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

disinfect (destroy microorganisms or pathogens by cleansing)

Derivation:

infection ((medicine) the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms and their multiplication which can lead to tissue damage and disease)

infection (the pathological state resulting from the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms)

infective (able to cause disease)

infective (caused by infection or capable of causing infection)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Corrupt with ideas or an ideology

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

society was infected by racism

Hypernyms (to "infect" is one way to...):

corrupt; debase; debauch; demoralise; demoralize; deprave; misdirect; pervert; profane; subvert; vitiate (corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Affect in a contagious way

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

His laughter infects everyone who is in the same room

Hypernyms (to "infect" is one way to...):

affect; impress; move; strike (have an emotional or cognitive impact upon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

infection (the communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people)

 Context examples 

A derivative of the Canarypox Virus, ALVAC can infect mammalian cells but it can't replicate.

(ALVAC, NCI Thesaurus)

Adm inistration into a patient exerts a CTL response against EBV-positive tumor cells or EBV-infected cells.

(Allogeneic Epstein-Barr Virus-Specific Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes, NCI Thesaurus)

Malignant neoplasms that develop in HIV infected patients.

(AIDS-Related Malignant Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

It causes infected cells to temporarily display CEA and activates the immune system to attack the tumor cells.

(ALVAC-CEA B7.1 Vaccine, NCI Thesaurus)

It blocks the ability of the virus to infect cells and to make more virus particles.

(Amantadine hydrochloride, NCI Dictionary)

Merkel cell polyomavirus is a polyomavirus that can infect humans.

(Merkel Cell Polyomavirus, NCI Thesaurus)

Animal bites rarely are life-threatening, but if they become infected, you can develop serious medical problems.

(Animal Bites, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

A Kaposi sarcoma arising from the cervix in patients who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

(AIDS-Related Cervical Kaposi Sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

People infected with HIV who develop any one of these cancers are considered to have AIDS.

(AIDS-related cancer, NCI Dictionary)

It is required for efficient lysis of infected cells.

(Adenovirus Death Protein, NCI Thesaurus)