infect

/in'fekt/

Thân thiện

His laughter infects everyone in the room with joy.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To contaminate with a disease-causing organism: To cause someone or something to become diseased by introducing a pathogen, such as a virus or bacteria.
   • To affect with a feeling, idea, or quality in a transmissible way: To cause a shared emotion, attitude, or atmosphere to spread among people.
   • To corrupt or taint with an undesirable element: To introduce a harmful or corrupting influence into a system, environment, or idea.

Usage

The verb infect is used to describe the process of transmitting something, typically negative or contagious, from one source to another. It is commonly followed by a direct object (the person or thing being affected) and often uses the preposition "with" to introduce the agent of infection (e.g., a disease, an idea, a mood).

Examples

• Contaminating with a disease:
  • The virus can infect the respiratory system.
  • Mosquitoes infect humans with malaria.
• Affecting with a feeling or idea:
  • Her enthusiasm infected the entire team, boosting their morale.
  • Fear and panic began to infect the crowd.
• Corrupting with a harmful influence:
  • The scandal infected the reputation of the entire institution.
  • Outdated software can infect a network with vulnerabilities.

Advanced Usage

• "to become infected": To contract a disease or to be affected by a harmful influence.
  • The wound became infected and required antibiotics.
• In computing: To describe a computer system being compromised by malicious software.
  • The email attachment infected my computer with a virus.

Variants and Related Words

• Infection (n): The process or state of being infected.
  • He is being treated for a bacterial infection.
• Infectious (adj): Capable of causing infection; likely to spread or influence others.
  • Measles is a highly infectious disease.
  • Her laugh was infectious and made everyone smile.
• Infective (adj): Relating to or capable of producing infection (more technical/medical).
  • The infective stage of the parasite.

Synonyms

• Contaminate: To make something impure or harmful by adding a foreign substance.
• Taint: To affect with a bad or undesirable quality.
• Spread (to): To cause something to be communicated or distributed.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

• Infect with: The standard construction to specify the agent of infection.
  • They were infected with a rare strain of the flu.

Related Idioms

• "to infect the air": To create a pervasive atmosphere or mood.
  • A sense of dread infected the air as the storm approached.

Học thuật

Verb

1. affect in a contagious way
   • His laughter infects everyone who is in the same room
2. corrupt with ideas or an ideology
   • society was infected by racism
3. contaminate with a disease or microorganism
4. communicate a disease to
   • Your children have infected you with this head cold

Từ đồng nghĩa

• taint