contamination

noun con·tam·i·na·tion \ kən-ˌta-mə-ˈnā-shən \

|Updated on: 15 Jul 2018

Examples: contamination in a Sentence

Definition of contamination

1 : a process of contaminating : a state of being contaminated

2 : contaminant

Examples of contamination in a Sentence

swimming in the lake is banned until the contamination is identified and neutralized

Recent Examples of contamination from the Web

To guard against the possibility of contamination, the three officers were given showers and a change of clothing.

— wayne k. roustan, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Police officers treated for chemical exposure, fire officials said," 12 July 2018
Fruits and vegetables should be stored separately from raw meats, poultry, and seafood, which also have a higher risk of contamination.

— amanda macmillan, Health.com, "What Is Cyclospora? Parasite Linked to Del Monte Vegetables Has Sickened More Than 200," 10 July 2018
The exposure of an apparently random British couple to the same nerve agent used against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, in the same part of southwest England, has sent officials scrambling to discover the source of the contamination.

— NBC News, "U.K. woman dies after exposure to Novichok, the same nerve agent used in Skripal attack," 8 July 2018
Laputz said the board's research of contaminants along the river is in its early stages, and has yet to pinpoint the sources of contamination.

— cynthia hubert, sacbee, "Heading to the American River this week? Here's where E. coli levels are high," 3 July 2018
Initial water samples showed no signs of contamination, Nelson County Emergency Management director Joe Prewitt said.

— Bloomberg.com, "Kentucky Bourbon Warehouse Collapses, Spilling 9,000 Barrels of Whiskey," 22 June 2018
Becerra-Valdivia says that this will provide a purer sample with less chance of contamination.

— kiona n. smith, Ars Technica, "New study adds evidence to debate over the only known Clovis burial," 18 June 2018
Scientists at Stanford University are warning if heavy groundwater pumping continues, water supplies for dozens of communities as well as billions of dollars of irrigated crops are at risk of contamination.

— kurtis alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, "Overpumping of Central Valley groundwater has side effect: too much arsenic," 5 June 2018
Rather, the state's top health officials say that following a lengthy investigation, only one source of contamination was found that explains the majority of the increase in cases — a common exposure at McLaren Flint Hospital.

— kristen jordan shamus, Detroit Free Press, "State: McLaren Flint was primary source of Legionnaires' outbreak," 30 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'contamination.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.