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toxic waste dump

toxic waste dump

4 5.1
A place where people leave dangerous chemicals, often illegally
  • noun
  • /ˈtɑksɪk weɪst dʌmp/
translation icon : vertedero de desechos tóxicos
  • The 1980 Superfund legislation, amended in 1986, prescribes standards for the cleanup of toxic-waste dump sites under the direction of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  • cleanup of a toxic waste dump
  • toxic waste dump sites

They went heavy in the wind and now they got huge toxic waste dumps filled with, you know, blades that they can't recycle.

Examples

  • The lawyer is lobbying against that toxic waste dump.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The geographic distribution of both minorities and the poor has been found to be highly correlated to the distribution of air pollution, municipal landfills, incinerators, and abandoned toxic waste dumps.

    Academic text (1999)
  • There is no toxic waste dump.

  • Protests were staged near toxic waste dumps in many communities.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Tom, the zoning board has designated the old Rawlins Chemical Plant as the new toxic waste dump site.

  • The company was fined for illegally disposing of trash at a toxic waste dump near the river.

  • Residents have protested against the construction of a new toxic waste dump near their homes, fearing health risks.

  • They discovered harmful chemicals leaking from the old toxic waste dump that had been abandoned for years.

Synonyms

toxic waste site
vstoxic waste dump
  • Specialized
2 4.4

A place where dangerous chemical waste is stored or dumped

focuses on disposal rather than storage and abandonment
toxic site
vstoxic waste dump
  • Specialized
1 5.7

A place where people dumped dangerous chemicals that need cleaning

is broader, covering places not yet identified or cleaned
toxic dumpsite
vstoxic waste dump
  • Specialized
5.4

A place where people dump poisonous waste, often illegally or unsafely

is the same meaning but phrased more generally
toxic waste area
vstoxic waste dump
  • Specialized
4.6

A place where people dump poisonous materials that must be cleaned because they can harm people or nature

does not require official designation and stresses unsafe disposal

How Polluted

toxic waste dump
4 5.1
toxic waste site
  • Specialized
2 4.4
toxic site
  • Specialized
1 5.7
clean
1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

toxic + waste + dump

The phrase's meaning is compositionally built from its parts: 'toxic' (poisonous) + 'waste' (refuse) + 'dump' (place where rubbish is deposited) yields a place where poisonous refuse is disposed of. This is a regular noun-compounding pattern found across languages and follows straightforward English composition, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Toxic waste dump paints a clear picture: people secretly leaving barrels of toxic waste in a big open dump or hole at night to avoid the law. So it means a place where dangerous chemicals are 'dumped', often 'illegally' or 'unsafely'.