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Definition of "pollute" []

  • To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter. See Synonyms at contaminate. (verb-transitive)
  • To make less suitable for an activity, especially by the introduction of unwanted factors: The stadium lights polluted the sky around the observatory. (verb-transitive)
  • To render impure or morally harmful; corrupt. (verb-transitive)
  • To make ceremonially impure; profane: "Churches and altars were polluted by atrocious murders” ( Edward Gibbon). (verb-transitive)

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.

Use "pollute" in a sentence
  • "I forgive you, said I, and wish you happy; yet, on this condition only, that you never again pollute my ears with the recital of your infamous passion."
  • "The hook in the bill is the proposal of capping emissions of greenhouse gases each year, allowing companies to buy and sell permits to "pollute" - translated it means that a coal-fired electric plant who violates it carbon cap can buy a carbon credit from a hydro-producing power facility that didn't use their allotted carbon credits,,, it's called"
  • "The flamboyant, bleach-blond politician also has called for taxing clothing commonly worn by Muslims, such as headscarves – or "head rags," as he once called them – because they "pollute" the Dutch landscape."