POLLUTE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pollute mean? 

• POLLUTE (verb)
  The verb POLLUTE has 1 sense:

1. make impure

  Familiarity information: POLLUTE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POLLUTE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pollute    ... he / she / it pollutes   
Past simple: polluted   
Past participle: polluted   
-ing form: polluting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make impure

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

contaminate; foul; pollute

Context example:

The industrial wastes polluted the lake

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

begrime; bemire; colly; dirty; grime; soil (make soiled, filthy, or dirty)

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

infect; taint (contaminate with a disease or microorganism)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

pollutant (waste matter that contaminates the water or air or soil)

polluter (a person or organization that causes pollution of the environment)

pollution (the act of contaminating or polluting; including (either intentionally or accidentally) unwanted substances or factors)

pollution (the state of being polluted)

pollution (undesirable state of the natural environment being contaminated with harmful substances as a consequence of human activities)

 Context examples 

If parts of the environment, like the air, water, or soil become polluted, it can lead to health problems.

(Environmental Health, NIH: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

For years, researchers have found evidence that some white dwarf atmospheres are polluted with traces of heavier elements such as calcium, silicon, magnesium and iron.

(K2 Finds Dead Star Vaporizing a Mini 'Planet', NASA)

Despite the vast open spaces of the American west, almost half of the U.S. experiences light-polluted nights.

(Milky Way now hidden from a third of humanity, NOAA)

“I will allow you to watch by it once more, but if this happens for the third time then the well is polluted and you can no longer remain with me.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Air pollution isn't just outside - the air inside buildings can also be polluted and affect your health.

(Air Pollution, Environmental Protection Agency)

“By St. James! it were better so than to be polluted by his touch,” answered the Spaniard, with his black eyes sparkling with rage and hatred.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Polluted by crimes and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Or else it looked as if it had gradually decomposed into that nightmare condition, out of the overflowings of the polluted stream.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It was as if he had seen the sun fall out of the sky, or had seen worshipped purity polluted.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)