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
In its newest report, Cloudflare traced the Oct. 29 DDoS to a botnet using a variant of Mirai malware to infect IoT devices.
—
Michael Kan, PCMAG, 21 Jan. 2025
The house thrums with a palpable evil that infects its inhabitants, not only tormenting them but turning them into tormentors.
—Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2025
Garfield died roughly two months after an assassin's bullet couldn't be removed from his body and infected him.
—Ed O'Keefe, CBS News, 18 Jan. 2025
It’s given to patients infected with the virus and prophylactically to people exposed to sick animals.
—Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 17 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for infect 
Michael Kan, PCMAG, 21 Jan. 2025
The house thrums with a palpable evil that infects its inhabitants, not only tormenting them but turning them into tormentors.
—Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2025
Garfield died roughly two months after an assassin's bullet couldn't be removed from his body and infected him.
—Ed O'Keefe, CBS News, 18 Jan. 2025
It’s given to patients infected with the virus and prophylactically to people exposed to sick animals.
—Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 17 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for infect
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infect
Verb
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These operations are often controlled by cartels and poison the surrounding natural environment with toxic chemicals.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
16 Jan. 2025
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In 2015, the Tribune reported on a broader phenomenon of lead poisoning plaguing children living in some of the poorest Chicago neighborhoods.—
Lizzie Kane,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Back in December, bird flu concerns led to the recall of a line of cat food from Northwest Naturals after health authorities linked the death of a cat to a batch of feed contaminated with bird flu.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA TODAY,
23 Jan. 2025
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The damage from the outside didn’t look too bad, but had smoke contaminated the interior?—
Jack Dolan,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Jan. 2025
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 first three of those points came at the free throw line, after Duncan Robinson fouled Lillard on a three-point shot, a call upheld on replay.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
24 Jan. 2025
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In a desperate attempt to atone for his error, Rogers fouls Lucas Michel on the edge of the box.—
Jacob Tanswell,
The Athletic,
21 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near infect
Cite this Entry
“Infect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infect. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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