ADULTERATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does adulteration mean? 

• ADULTERATION (noun)
  The noun ADULTERATION has 2 senses:

1. being mixed with extraneous material; the product of adulterating

2. the act of adulterating (especially the illicit substitution of one substance for another)

  Familiarity information: ADULTERATION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ADULTERATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Being mixed with extraneous material; the product of adulterating

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

adulteration; debasement

Hypernyms ("adulteration" is a kind of...):

impureness; impurity (the condition of being impure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of adulterating (especially the illicit substitution of one substance for another)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("adulteration" is a kind of...):

change (the action of changing something)

 Context examples 

If I might take the liberty of saying so, sir, I don't think the milk which is boiled with it is quite genuine; but I am aware, sir, that there is a great adulteration of milk, in London, and that the article in a pure state is difficult to be obtained.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)