ADULTERATE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Adulterate

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/ədˈəltərˌeɪt/ Listen

verb

Adulterate v. t. (past & past part. adulterated; pres. part. adulterating)

To defile by adultery. (Obs.)

To corrupt, debase, or make impure by an admixture of a foreign or a baser substance; as, to adulterate food, drink, drugs, coin, etc. "The present war has... adulterated our tongue with strange words."

Synonyms: To corrupt; defile; debase; contaminate; vitiate; sophisticate.

Adulterate v. i. To commit adultery. (Obs.)

adjective

Adulterate adj.

Tainted with adultery.

Debased by the admixture of a foreign substance; adulterated; spurious.

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Etymology of 'Adulterate'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Adulterate" Quotes from Famous Books

... take the Antimony out presently after the Solution, precipitate and adulterate it according to the custom of Alchymists, that it may not be corroded with its perfect Oil by the Water, and burnt ...

— Of Natural and Supernatural Things • Basilius Valentinus

... yields a long staple and is sometimes used to adulterate silk and other fibers. Some varieties of this cotton are harsh and wooly and are prized for ...

— Textiles and Clothing • Kate Heintz Watson

... Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts, Won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen: Oh, Hamlet, what a falling off was there! From me, whose love was of that dignity, That it went hand in hand, even with the vow I made ...

— The Canadian Elocutionist • Anna Kelsey Howard

... aimed at a swift and petty benefit, to suck a sudden sweetness. We snatch at the slowest fruit in the whole garden of God, which many summers and many winters must ripen. We seek our friend not sacredly, but with an adulterate passion which would appropriate him to ourselves. In vain. We are armed all over with subtle antagonisms, which, as soon as we meet, begin to play, and translate all poetry into stale prose. Almost all people descend to meet. All association must be a compromise, ...

— Essays, First Series • Ralph Waldo Emerson

... increasing demand and the continued rise in price, manufacturers of lavender water and of compound perfumes in which oil of lavender is a necessary ingredient commenced to buy the French oil, and venders of the English oil commenced to adulterate largely the ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 799, April 25, 1891 • Various

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