as in to contaminate
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable
outmoded factories polluting the air
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Recent Examples of pollute
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism targets imports of aluminum, cement, steel, and other goods that the EU determines are made with more-polluting processes than those allowed within the bloc.
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Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 2 Jan. 2026
Highways, viaducts, giant interchanges, and a major Metro junction viciously mutilated São Paulo’s downtown in the 1960s and ’70s, demoting it from a popular residential area to a commercial transfer hub, overcrowded and polluted by day but forlorn by night.
—Michaëla De Lacaze Mohrmann, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026
Snow and ice create conditions that can damage plants, lawns, and pollute waterways, particularly those located adjacent to roads, sidewalks, driveways, and other high-traffic areas.
—Barbara Gillette, The Spruce, 29 Dec. 2025
Through the car initiative, low-income Californians can trade in older, more polluting vehicles and receive a voucher to help pay for newer, less-polluting hybrid or electric vehicles.
—Hannah Ruhoff, Sacbee.com, 17 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pollute
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pollute
Verb
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The estimated volume of wastewater contaminating the San Gabriel River is more than 100,000 gallons, per the release.—
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But by then, decades of unregulated waste disposal had contaminated sites all over the country.—
Verb
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According to other accounts, some white residents believed Makandal and his allies were behind a plot to poison the water supply in all the houses in the city of Le Cap.—
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In a recent study, however, researchers at Yale found that interoception helped mice avoid poisoning themselves.—
Verb
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Lawyers also argued the conviction should be overturned because the verdict was tainted by the media attention and due to faulty instructions to the jury.—
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Just as one bite of a cookie might not happen to contain chocolate chips, one small sample of drugs might not include fentanyl even if the larger supply is tainted, the agency’s website explains.—
Cite this Entry
“Pollute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pollute. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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