Library / English Dictionary

POLLUTE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make impure

Example:

The industrial wastes polluted the lake

Synonyms:

contaminate; foul; pollute

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Greenspace and gardens were associated with reductions in asthma hospitalisation at lower pollutant levels, but not in the most polluted urban areas.

(Asthma Attacks Reduced in Tree-Lined Urban Neighborhoods, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Planet Nine's orbital influence would explain why these bodies from the distant Kuiper Belt end up "polluting" the inner Kuiper Belt.

(The Super-Earth that Came Home for Dinner, NASA)

People in the most polluted quarter of neighborhoods were at least six per cent more likely to report having glaucoma than those in the least polluted.

(Air Pollution Can Trigger Glaucoma, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In 2016, the report estimated that 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.

(WAir Pollution a Health Risk for Children, Lisa Schlein/VOA)

According to Marisa Bezerra Monte, the compound could provide an alternative to the use of soluble fertilizers, which pollute water and waste nutrients.

(New Brazilian fertilizer can boost productivity, Agência BRASIL)

We usually think of air pollution as being outdoors, but the air in your house or office could also be polluted.

(Indoor Air Pollution, Environmental Protection Agency)

There is this myth that finance ministers still live by, that you have to let industry pollute or else you won’t develop.

(Pollution is the World’s No. 1 Killer, VOA)

For older women, breathing air that is heavily polluted by vehicle exhaust and other sources of fine particulates nearly doubles the likelihood of developing dementia, finds a study published Tuesday.

(The Surprising Link between Air Pollution, Alzheimer’s Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Human activity can pollute groundwater particularly in the shallowest few hundred metres where it is relied upon for water supply and irrigation.

(Modern pollutants can reach deep fossil aquifers, SciDev.Net)

The researchers suggest this was likely because less educated men work outside more in China and are thus more exposed to polluted air.

(Pollution Linked to Significant Decline in Human Cognition, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)