infect

Verb

infect (third-person singular simple present infects, present participle infecting, simple past and past participle infected)

1. (transitive) To bring (the body or part of it) into contact with a substance that causes illness (a pathogen), so that the pathogen begins to act on the body; (of a pathogen) to come into contact with (a body or body part) and begin to act on it.
   • Not everyone will be infected when an epidemic strikes.
   • Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola.2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193
2. (transitive) To contaminate (an object or substance) with a pathogen.

   Synonyms:

   leper

3. (transitive) To make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion, or to communicate a feeling to others, or a feeling communicating itself to others.
   • Her passion for dancing has infected me.
   • Guido, by way of diverting the embarrassment which seemed to infect them all, began to unfasten the packet of letters.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 164
4. (transitive) Of a computer virus: to insert its own code into (another executable file).

Adjective (1)

infect (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Infected.
   • And in the imitation of these twain, / Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns / With an imperial voice, many are infect.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Adjective (2)

IPA/ˈɪnfɛkt/

infect (not comparable)

1. (rare) Representing an action not yet completed.