pollution
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pollute/pəˈluːt/
▶verb
- 1 contaminate (water, the air, etc.) with harmful or poisonous substances.
- 2 defile or corrupt.
– derivatives
pollutant adjective & noun,
polluter noun,
pollution noun.
pollutant adjective & noun,
polluter noun,
pollution noun.
– origin ME: from L. pollut-, polluere ‘pollute, defile’, based on the root of lutum ‘mud’.
'pollution' also found in these Oxford entries:
air quality
- anthropogenic
- bioindicator
- caste
- contaminate
- footprint
- genetic pollution
- lean-burn
- light pollution
- London plane
- noise pollution
- pollute
- scald
- skyglow
