taint

CEFRB2

/teɪnt/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To spoil or damage something with a bad influence.

  2. 02

    noun

    A trace of something bad or harmful.

Examples

  • Any suspicion of fraud could taint the election results.

  • The scandal will taint the reputation of the company for many years.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish.

  2. A tinge, trace or touch.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.

More examples

In context

  • To taint means to contaminate or pollute something with a trace of bad.

  • Using Apache version 1.3.29 and Perl version 5.8.2, we tracked the following sequence of taints […]

  • Meat soon taints in warm weather.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

If you leave raw meat out too long, bacteria will blank it and make you sick.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle French teint, from Old French teint (past participle of teindre (“to dye, to tinge”)), from Latin tinctum (past participle of tingere); compare tint.