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# contamination

«contamination» in Mova's school dictionary: **The state of being made dirty, impure or harmful by…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (contamination, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) The state of being made dirty, impure or harmful by something unwanted (water contamination). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#m1)

2) The act or process of contaminating something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#m2)

3) (science) Unwanted material spoiling a sample or experiment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In health, science and news, contamination of water, food or air can make people ill; «cross-contamination» in kitchens spreads germs from raw to cooked food. In environment lessons, radioactive or chemical contamination can last a long time. It tells the reader there is something harmful where it shouldn't be.

### examples

- The water company found contamination in the reservoir. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#x1)
- Cross-contamination happens when raw meat touches cooked food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#x2)
- Food labels warn about contamination with nuts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#x3)
- Scientists wear gloves to avoid contamination. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#x4)
- Radioactive contamination stayed near Chernobyl for many years. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#x5)
- The beach was closed because of sewage contamination. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/#x6)

### note

Uncountable: no «a», no plural. Verb: contaminate. «Cross-contamination» is an important food-safety word: allergens (like nuts) can also cross-contaminate food, which is dangerous for people with allergies.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «contamination» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contamination/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.