Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act or process of polluting or the state of being polluted, especially the contamination of soil, water, or the atmosphere by the discharge of harmful substances.
- noun Something that pollutes; a pollutant or a group of pollutants.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of polluting; also, the state of being polluted; defilement; uncleanness; impurity.
- noun Specifically, legal or ceremonial uncleanness, disqualifying a person for sacred services or for intercourse with others, or rendering anything unfit for sacred use.
- noun The emission of semen at any other time than during coition: more frequently called
self-pollution .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of polluting, or the state of being polluted (in any sense of the verb); defilement; uncleanness; impurity.
- noun (Med.) The emission of semen, or sperm, at other times than in sexual intercourse.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act of
polluting or the state of beingpolluted , especially thecontamination of theenvironment byharmful substances . - noun Something that
pollutes ; apollutant . - noun archaic Physical
defilement . - noun medicine, obsolete The
emission ofsemen at other times than in sexual intercourse.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun undesirable state of the natural environment being contaminated with harmful substances as a consequence of human activities
- noun the act of contaminating or polluting; including (either intentionally or accidentally) unwanted substances or factors
- noun the state of being polluted
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pollution.
Examples
-
So I think we can use the term pollution to describe it.
-
Koch Nitrogen Co. LLC, a fertilizer producer, questions the EPA's desire to make unit-specific or facility-specific emissions available, calling it "misguided" since a change in pollution from a single factory is unlikely to influence policy on a global problem.
Greenhouse Gases Database: Companies Fight To Keep Global Warming Data Secret AP 2010
-
Koch Nitrogen Co. LLC, a fertilizer producer, questions the EPA's desire to make unit-specific or facility-specific emissions available, calling it "misguided" since a change in pollution from a single factory is unlikely to influence policy on a global problem.
Greenhouse Gases Database: Companies Fight To Keep Global Warming Data Secret AP 2010
-
Koch Nitrogen Co. LLC, a fertilizer producer, questions the EPA's desire to make unit-specific or facility-specific emissions available, calling it "misguided" since a change in pollution from a single factory is unlikely to influence policy on a global problem.
Greenhouse Gases Database: Companies Fight To Keep Global Warming Data Secret AP 2010
-
Koch Nitrogen Co. LLC, a fertilizer producer, questions the EPA's desire to make unit-specific or facility-specific emissions available, calling it "misguided" since a change in pollution from a single factory is unlikely to influence policy on a global problem.
Greenhouse Gases Database: Companies Fight To Keep Global Warming Data Secret AP 2010
-
I hate the way they use the term pollution in association with CO2...
China is now tops in CO2 emissions.... GayandRight 2008
-
They want great respect for what they call pollution-free transportation.
-
Burke believed that the source of the pollution is the Platonic pursuit of abstract perfection, the passion to change other people's personal, political, religious or economic views by political violence.
-
Controlling 'pollution' is not the same thing at all, CO2 is not considered a pollutant ... in the US at least.
Global Warming, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
-
Julia Brownley, the Democrat who proposed the move, said: The biggest way to eliminate this kind of pollution is to ban it.
California to Become the First State to Ban Plastic Bags | Impact Lab 2010
Prolagus commented on the word pollution
Polluzione, in Italian, is the medical term for a nocturnal emission, also known as wet dream.
Sono andato a vivere in campagna per scappare dalla polluzione.
March 31, 2009