pollute
To make something harmful, especially by the addition of some unwanted product.
Example
“The factory polluted the river when it cleaned its tanks.”
Other meanings
To make something or somewhere less suitable for some activity, especially by the introduction of some unnatural factor.
“The lights from the stadium polluted the night sky, and we couldn't see the stars.”
To corrupt or profane
Related words
- depollute
- pollutable
- pollutive
- repollute
- unpollute
- polluter
- self-pollute
Word history
From Latin "pollūtum".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “pollute” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.