How to Use contaminate in a Sentence

contaminate

verb

• Don't touch the microchip or the oil on your hands will contaminate it.
• Make sure the white paint is not contaminated by any of the other colors.
• Be careful not to allow bacteria to contaminate the wound.
• The volume was great enough for the flow to exit the school and contaminate its playground.
  — oregonlive, 28 Mar. 2021
• That’s because plants change the soil that they are grown in, says Paul, and so would contaminate the samples.
  — Stephen Ornes, Discover Magazine, 23 Dec. 2022
• These items can cause jams in the balers and contaminate whole batches of plastic.
  — Kristin Hostetter, Outside Online, 14 Mar. 2022
• All that can contaminate water and soil, not to mention lay waste to large tracts of land.
  — Bydennis Normile, science.org, 1 Nov. 2022
• Just don't bring the muckier parts of it inside to build up and contaminate our homes.
  — Mark Patrick Taylor, CBS News, 26 May 2023
• Always avoid touching the front of the mask, which could be contaminated with droplets that contain the virus.
  — Ashley Abramson, Allure, 1 May 2020
• Those with unwashed hands, which may contaminate surfaces, should be kept out of the kitchen.
  — USA Today, 20 Nov. 2020
• For hard cheeses where the mold is not part of the processing, cut at least 1 inch around and below the mold, taking care not to drag the knife through the mold and cross contaminate the rest.
  — Becky Krystal, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2022
• But chromium is present in the crust and might have leached into the layer and contaminated it.
  — Byadam Mann, science.org, 15 Aug. 2024
• This urban food myth contends that if food spends just a few seconds on the floor, dirt and germs won’t have much of a chance to contaminate it.
  — Paul Dawson, CNN, 27 May 2022
• Three and a half decades later, the site is still contaminated.
  — Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 22 Jan. 2025
• The space was too small for large tools; a lubricant for the screws could have contaminated the samples.
  — Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2024
• The virus spreads through droppings or the nasal discharge of an infected bird, which can contaminate dust and soil.
  — Josh Funk, USA TODAY, 27 Nov. 2022
• Because the germs on shoes can easily spread to your floors, and then contaminate your house as a result.
  — Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 14 Apr. 2022
• The same works to help keep out potential bacteria that can contaminate the greens and cause people to get sick.
  — Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Aug. 2022
• Their actions become more toxic and contaminate all of the folks around them.
  — Jack Kelly, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2022
• Will the leaves and flowers from the oleander that fall into the swimming pool contaminate the pool water?
  — Dan Gill, NOLA.com, 7 Oct. 2020
• Those later contaminate the soil, harm wildlife, and enter our food and water.
  — Emily Farra, Vogue, 23 Dec. 2020
• The other was that ashy sludge could contaminate the water itself.
  — Ella Nilsen, CNN, 3 Sep. 2022
• But cooking deli meat at high heat can kill any germs that may contaminate these products.
  — Lisa Rapaport, EverydayHealth.com, 22 July 2024
• This can lead to surface runoff, which can contaminate water, spread pathogens, seed algae blooms and kill fish.
  — Bennet Goldstein, Journal Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2024
• The problem with putting a turkey on a higher shelf is that the juices, which are full of bacteria, can drip down and contaminate other food.
  — Jennifer Aldrich, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Nov. 2023
• My friend had not examined the measurements that proved that fracs from shale wells do not grow up and contaminate aquifers.
  — Ian Palmer, Forbes, 5 May 2021
• According to the plaintiffs, the waste from construction and traffic could contaminate the streams and harm fish.
  — Alena Naiden, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Dec. 2021
• Any nuclear weapon on the moon would carve out a crater, and would contaminate the area with radiation.
  — Anna Diamond, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 July 2020
• Last March, the virus was detected in dairy cows for the first time, according to federal officials, prompting new testing to reduce the risk that contaminated milk might make people sick.
  — Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2025
• The infection is usually contracted by walking barefoot on soil contaminated by the feces of a person or animal who has the infection.
  — Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025