as in poisoning
to pass something harmful (such as a disease) to someone or something else
If you come to work when you're sick, you'll infect everyone in the office.
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Recent Examples of infecting
Hendra virus typically passes from bats to horses before occasionally infecting humans.
—
William A. Haseltine,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2026
And now, a new surge of toxicity is infecting modern masculinity.
—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
27 June 2026
These bloodborne bacteria can migrate to the heart, infecting and damaging the heart muscle and valves.
—
Mark Stibich,
Verywell Health,
25 June 2026
The procedure, called variolation, involved deliberately infecting a soldier with a small amount of smallpox virus to build immunity.
—
Katrine L. Wallace,
The Conversation,
24 June 2026
Unlike measles outbreaks in Texas, South Carolina and Arizona, the spread in Utah has been tough to contain to one region — infecting undervaccinated communities in nearly every county.
—
Devi Shastri,
Fortune,
20 June 2026
Instead of targeting machines through the BIOS or master boot record, one such bootkit attacked Mac OS X systems by infecting the EFI, a package of firmware that started the boot process.
—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
17 June 2026
While the fly is capable of infecting humans and pets, such cases are rare and pose little risk to the broader public, according to experts.
—
David Hickey,
NBC news,
4 June 2026
The year before that, SARS had emerged, ultimately infecting over 8,000 people in nearly 30 countries.
—
Neil Vora,
Time,
22 May 2026
William A. Haseltine,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2026
And now, a new surge of toxicity is infecting modern masculinity.
—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
27 June 2026
These bloodborne bacteria can migrate to the heart, infecting and damaging the heart muscle and valves.
—
Mark Stibich,
Verywell Health,
25 June 2026
The procedure, called variolation, involved deliberately infecting a soldier with a small amount of smallpox virus to build immunity.
—
Katrine L. Wallace,
The Conversation,
24 June 2026
Unlike measles outbreaks in Texas, South Carolina and Arizona, the spread in Utah has been tough to contain to one region — infecting undervaccinated communities in nearly every county.
—
Devi Shastri,
Fortune,
20 June 2026
Instead of targeting machines through the BIOS or master boot record, one such bootkit attacked Mac OS X systems by infecting the EFI, a package of firmware that started the boot process.
—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
17 June 2026
While the fly is capable of infecting humans and pets, such cases are rare and pose little risk to the broader public, according to experts.
—
David Hickey,
NBC news,
4 June 2026
The year before that, SARS had emerged, ultimately infecting over 8,000 people in nearly 30 countries.
—
Neil Vora,
Time,
22 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infecting
Verb
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One of Robinson's attorneys, Kathryn Nester, also represented Kouri Richins, who was convicted of poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in March 2022.
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Lewis was accused of poisoning two white female housemates, assaulted by a white mob in response to the charge, and acquitted in court, only to then be accused of stealing art supplies and prohibited from reënrolling.
Verb
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Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.
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An early discussion about social contracts comes down to us in Plato’s dialogue Crito in which Socrates, condemned to death for allegedly corrupting the youth, refused an offer to escape from prison.
Verb
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Barrera hasn’t turned on Quintero’s air conditioner for fear of contaminating the house.
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Until the 1990s, the power company disposed of over 1 million tons of coal ash in an unlined storage area in Pines, later contaminating the groundwater that supplied the town of 700.
Verb
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The rule keeps teams from fouling in the backcourt to stop a fast break, and a penalty awards the offense one free throw and possession.
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The Phillies loaded the bases with two outs in the second, and after fouling off several Chandler pitches, Crawford took another late swipe and managed to hit one down the third base line off the end of the bat.
Verb
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Lineage also has contracted with Orkin and Signal Restoration Services to try to keep pests from being drawn to the spoiling food.
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Use fans, essential oils, or porch screens to keep mosquitoes from spoiling your summer nights.
Verb
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The Athletics beat the Dodgers 7-1 on Wednesday night, giving the West Sacramento team its only win of the series with the Dodgers, winners of the past two World Series, failing to secure a three-game sweep.
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Another prohibits giving lectures in public parks without city permission.
Cite this Entry
“Infecting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infecting. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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