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
Measles infects the respiratory tract before spreading throughout the body, according to the World Health Organization.
—
Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 7 Apr. 2025
When mature, the new generation of parasites burst out of the cells and infect others in the circulation.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
In the latest data, the Texas Department of State Health Services says five of the people infected had taken at least one vaccine dose.
—Matt Leclercq, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Apr. 2025
Scientists recently found a link between multiple sclerosis and Epstein-Barr virus, a pathogen estimated to infect over 90% of adults around the world.
—Deborah Fuller, The Conversation, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infect
Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 7 Apr. 2025
When mature, the new generation of parasites burst out of the cells and infect others in the circulation.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
In the latest data, the Texas Department of State Health Services says five of the people infected had taken at least one vaccine dose.
—Matt Leclercq, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Apr. 2025
Scientists recently found a link between multiple sclerosis and Epstein-Barr virus, a pathogen estimated to infect over 90% of adults around the world.
—Deborah Fuller, The Conversation, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infect
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infect
Verb
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Until Henry momentarily excuses himself from the table, that is, and the person or persons behind these winky-wink messages tell her to poison Henry ASAP or the menacing guy currently hiding in her apartment will kill her boy.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2025
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Calls to poison control centers for pediatric melatonin ingestion increased 530 percent between 2012 and 2021, according to one analysis published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Venezuela’s crude oil is heavily contaminated with sulfur.—
Keith Bradsher,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
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Several multistate recalls of pet food contaminated with the bird flu virus have been announced in recent months by the FDA and pet food manufacturers.—
Alexander Tin,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 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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That — a complete inability to defend without fouling — has been as much a hallmark of these Huskies as anything.—
Brendan Marks,
The Athletic,
22 Mar. 2025
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After taking two timeouts to get the ball inbounds, Arkansas finally got play restarted and KU fouled Arkansas’ Jonell Davis.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Infect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infect. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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