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pollution

pollution

255 2.7
Harmful substances in the air, water, or soil that damage health and nature
  • noun
  • /pəˈluːʃən/
translation icon : contaminación
  • How can these results be used to improve the potential impact of a pollution-prevention information campaign?
  • air pollution
  • pollution prevention
  • water pollution

But instead we should be taxing things like pollution and congestion.

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Examples

  • Environmental reporting fledged in the 1970s with such pollution issues as acid rain and mercury in fish.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The technology exists to reduce the amount of pollution that salmon fish farms generate.

    Academic text (1999)
  • And once you clean the pollution, it becomes beautiful.

  • The problem with it was the pollution it created.

  • Well, the cotton industry there is a major source of pollution, so...

  • People have become more and more fed up with the pollution in our environment.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • I cannot be exposed to pollution for extended periods of time.

  • No plan to combat climate change can ignore the pollution that Russian industry produces.

    Academic text (2011)
  • A growing public awareness and concern about controlling water pollution led to significant amendments in 1972.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Plastic pollution is harming marine life in our oceans.

Synonyms

contamination
vspollution
  • Specialized
76 4.8

Harmful things that make food, water, or places unsafe

is specifically about harming the environment and causing danger
defilement
vspollution
23 9.1

A place made dirty or impure by harmful substances

focuses on harmful substances that damage the environment rather than moral impurity
befoulment
vspollution
9.9

A state of being made dirty, often of water or land

puts emphasis on dangerous environmental contamination rather than mere dirtiness

Antonyms

26 1.0

Being free from dirt and keeping things tidy

25 3.1

The state of having no dirt or other things mixed in

Compounds

26 2.6

Harmful gases, smoke, and small particles in the air that can damage health or nature

Harmful things in rivers, lakes, or seas that make water unsafe

Loud or unwanted sounds made by people that bother others and can harm health

Dirty air from factories and power plants that harms people

thermal pollution
  • Specialized
1 5.8

A harmful rise in river or lake water temperature caused by hot water from factories

Waste that nature breaks down but can still harm the environment in large amounts

Waste made of things like plastic that do not break down and build up in nature

5.1

Very small bits of dirty matter in the air that come from smoke and engines and can harm people's health

Loud unwanted noise that disturbs people and can harm health

How Polluted

pollution
255 2.7
contamination
  • Specialized
76 4.8

Surface Forms

pollution singular
pollutions plural

Morphology

pollution = pollute (transparent) = pollute + ion

Standard nominalization of the verb 'pollute' with '-ion', producing the noun for the action or state; meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

Pollution comes from the Latin verb polluere, which means 'to soil' or 'to make dirty'. So, pollution is about making the air, water, or land dirty or harmful, which is why it means the presence of harmful substances in the environment.