Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of polluere

pollute

 verb
     
Related topics: Environment and waste
pol‧lute [transitive]
1SGE to make air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use:
beaches polluted by raw sewage
The factory pollutes the air and water.
heavily/severely/badly etc polluted
The island has been seriously polluted by a copper mine.
pollute something with something
The rivers had been polluted with aluminium.
2 to spoil or ruin something that used to be good:
an artist spiritually polluted by money and fame
3

pollute somebody's mind

to give someone immoral thoughts and spoil their character:
Violence on television is polluting the minds of our children.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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