Syn. — To pollute; defile; sully; taint; tarnish; soil; stain; corrupt.
Contaminate
(Con*tam"i*nate) a. Contaminated; defiled; polluted; tainted. "Contaminate drink." Daniel.
Contamination
(Con*tam`i*na"tion) n. [L. contaminatio.] The act or process of contaminating; pollution; defilement; taint; also,
that which contaminates.
Contamitive
(Con*tam"i*tive) a. Tending or liable to contaminate.
Contango
(Con*tan"go) n.; pl. Contangoes [Prob. a corruption of contingent.]
1. (Stock Exchange) The premium or interest paid by the buyer to the seller, to be allowed to defer
paying for the stock purchased until the next fortnightly settlement day. [Eng.]
2. (Law) The postponement of payment by the buyer of stock on the payment of a premium to the
seller. See Backwardation. N. Biddle.
Contection
(Con*tec"tion) n. [L. contegere, -tectum, to cover up.] A covering. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
Contek
(Con"tek) n. [OE. conteck, conteke, contake, perh. a corruption either of contact or contest.]
1. Quarrel; contention; contest. [Obs.]
Contek with bloody knife.
Chaucer.
2. Contumely; reproach. [Obs.] Wyclif.
Contemn
(Con*temn") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Contemned (- temd); p. pr. & vb. n. Contemning ] [L. contemnere, -
temptum; con- + temnere to slight, despise: cf. OF. contemner.] To view or treat with contempt, as
mean and despicable; to reject with disdain; to despise; to scorn.
Thy pompous delicacies I contemn.
Milton.
One who contemned divine and human laws.
Dryden.
Syn. — To despise; scorn; disdain; spurn; slight; neglect; underrate; overlook. — To Contemn, Despise,
Scorn, Disdain. Contemn is the generic term, and is applied especially to objects, qualities, etc., which
are deemed contemptible, and but rarely to individuals; to despise is to regard or treat as mean, unbecoming,
or worthless; to scorn is stronger, expressing a quick, indignant contempt; disdain is still stronger, denoting
either unwarrantable pride and haughtiness or an abhorrence of what is base.
Contemner
(Con*tem"ner) (kon*tem"ner or -tem"er), n. One who contemns; a despiser; a scorner. "Contemners
of the gods." South.
Contemningly
(Con*tem"ning*ly), adv. Contemptuously. [R.]
Contemper
(Con*tem"per) v. t. [L. contemperare, - temperatum; con- + temperare to temper. Cf.
Contemperate.] To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate; to soften. [Obs.]
The antidotes . . . have allayed its bitterness and contempered its malignancy.
Johnson.
Contemperate
(Con*tem"per*ate) v. t. [See Contemper.] To temper; to moderate. [Obs.]
Moisten and contemperate the air.
Sir T. Browne.
Contemperation
(Con*tem`per*a"tion) n.
