Definition of "contagious" []

• Of or relating to contagion. (adjective)
• Transmissible by direct or indirect contact; communicable: a contagious disease. (adjective)
• Capable of transmitting disease; carrying a disease: stayed at home until he was no longer contagious. (adjective)
• Spreading or tending to spread from one to another; infectious: a contagious smile. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I used the word contagious rather than dangerous on purpose."
• "Among the infectious diseases are some that are quite directly and quickly conveyed from person to person and to these the term contagious is applied."
• "To quell demonstrations after the Sean Bell killing, he asked the Rand Corporation to investigate what he termed "contagious shooting.""