pollute
Definitions
To make air, water, or land dirty and unsafe with harmful substances
污染（空气、水或土地）
To have a harmful or corrupting effect on something
玷污；败坏
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedpol- (from por-, an old form of pro-, 'forth/over') + lut (a form of luere, 'to wash') = Latin polluere, 'to wash over and defile.' Where dilute washes a liquid thinner, pollute washes filth into it.
Root lav still carries 19 more wordsWhy It Means This
Pollute is the dark twin of dilute: both are built on luere ('wash'), but they pull in opposite directions. Dilute weakens a substance by adding pure liquid; pollute corrupts a substance by letting filth flow into it. That's why pollute also works morally — a scandal can pollute a reputation just as waste pollutes a river.
Common Collocations
- 1.pollute the air污染空气
- 2.pollute the environment污染环境
- 3.heavily polluted严重污染的
- 4.pollute water sources污染水源
- 5.pollute rivers污染河流
Example Sentences
- 1.
Factories that pollute the river will face heavy fines.
- 2.
Burning coal pollutes the air with fine particles.
- 3.
He worried that money would pollute the spirit of the game.
Easily Confused
pollute vs contaminate — Both mean to make dirty/unsafe, but contaminate stresses that an unwanted substance has gotten in (contaminated blood, contaminated samples), often invisibly. Pollute stresses ongoing damage to a large environment (pollute the air/oceans). You contaminate a sample; you pollute a planet.