as in to poison
to pass something harmful (such as a disease) to someone or something else
If you come to work when you're sick, you'll infect everyone in the office.
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Recent Examples of infect
Second, people who’ve come into contact with infected people have not themselves been infected.
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Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024
Farmers are frustrated that their herds are getting infected despite various precautions.
—Kristina Karisch, The Hill, 20 Dec. 2024
Related article America’s first severe case of bird flu confirmed in Louisiana
As the name suggests, avian influenza viruses prefer to infect birds.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN, 19 Dec. 2024
Scientists' discovery that horses in Mongolia have been infected with bird flu—and that these infections were not accompanied by visible symptoms—has raised fears of the virus spreading undetected into other animals and even into humans.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for infect 
Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024
Farmers are frustrated that their herds are getting infected despite various precautions.
—Kristina Karisch, The Hill, 20 Dec. 2024
Related article America’s first severe case of bird flu confirmed in Louisiana
As the name suggests, avian influenza viruses prefer to infect birds.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN, 19 Dec. 2024
Scientists' discovery that horses in Mongolia have been infected with bird flu—and that these infections were not accompanied by visible symptoms—has raised fears of the virus spreading undetected into other animals and even into humans.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for infect
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infect
Verb
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Dexter’s first kill, initiated by the nurse poisoning Harry when he’s hospitalized after a heart attack, is intercut with Deb’s high school volleyball game.Alison Herman, Variety, 14 Dec. 2024
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Moscow’s disastrous war in Afghanistan in the 1980s poisoned its relations with the Muslim world, and even contributed to the collapse of the Soviet state.Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Sanitize Your Pet Supplies Everyday germs from the outside world and even pet food can contaminate your dog’s bowls, toys, and habitats.Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 24 Dec. 2024
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That flood and subsequent pulses contaminated the river and soils along its floodplain for 120 miles, eventually requiring a massive Superfund cleanup that still might be decades from completion.Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 19 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Dodge won't spoil the surprise by confirming if the last one will be based on the Charger or the Challenger (or maybe both), but the evidence suggests the latter is more likely.Jack Fitzgerald, Car and Driver, 13 Feb. 2023
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Farmers’ broiler chickens suffocate, and dairy products spoil.Monica Mark, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Feb. 2023
Verb
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The Rockets want to control the glass, run the floor in transition and defend aggressively without fouling, but the absence of a true pecking order rears its head at the wrong times, especially in crunchtime.Eric Koreen, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
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Even uglier: There then was a lengthy delay with 8:46 to play in the third period, on a sequence that began with a Herro drive and ended with Herro being fouled by the Pistons forward Tim Hardaway Jr.Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 13 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near infect
Cite this Entry
“Infect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infect. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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