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
If the same pig was infected by both avian and human types of flu virus, the viruses could intermix, creating a new, dangerous avian influenza strain that could be better equipped to infect humans.
—
Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 12 Mar. 2025
The mental anguish often outweighed the physical strain of the illness itself.
COVID-19 Infections: A high number of workers were infected at work, many contracting COVID more than once.
—Errol Schweizer, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Parasitic worms infect up to 480 million people globally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control explains.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025
This highly sophisticated malware has now infected 1,590,299 Android TV devices across 226 countries, transforming them into anonymous proxy servers for illicit activities.
—Alex Vakulov, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infect
Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 12 Mar. 2025
The mental anguish often outweighed the physical strain of the illness itself.
COVID-19 Infections: A high number of workers were infected at work, many contracting COVID more than once.
—Errol Schweizer, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Parasitic worms infect up to 480 million people globally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control explains.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 8 Mar. 2025
This highly sophisticated malware has now infected 1,590,299 Android TV devices across 226 countries, transforming them into anonymous proxy servers for illicit activities.
—Alex Vakulov, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for infect
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infect
Verb
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The invisible, odorless gas is the leading cause of poisoning deaths in the United States, killing more than 400 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
Kerry Breen,
CBS News,
18 Mar. 2025
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Thousands each year are shot, poisoned to suffer, and trapped legally.—
James Powel,
USA TODAY,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Humans can also get infected by eating raw produce—like leafy greens—that have been contaminated with slug slime because the L3 larvae are shed in the gastropods' slime trail.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
11 Mar. 2025
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The infection is usually contracted by walking barefoot on soil contaminated by the feces of a person or animal who has the infection.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
People.com,
8 Mar. 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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In addition, Kansas struggled to defend the Wildcats without fouling.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
9 Mar. 2025
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Teams are fronting Jokic, doubling him, fouling him.—
Troy Renck,
The Denver Post,
9 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Infect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infect. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
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