taint

Word family

taint1 /teɪnt/ verb [transitiveT]

1 SPOILif a situation or person is tainted by something, it damages them by making them seem bad 使受负面影响；玷污，败坏〔某人的名誉〕

Baker argues that his trial was tainted by negative publicity.

贝克抗辩说他的审判受到了负面宣传的影响。

2 to damage something by adding an unwanted substance to it 污染，沾污

be tainted with something

The water had been tainted with a deadly toxin.

水被致命毒素污染。

n Grammar

Taint is usually passive.

Examples from the Corpus

taint• As a result, consumers no longer see used vehicles as somehow tainted and risky.• Some of the front-runners fortunately are not tainted by committee membership, nor do they look like Ed Moore clones.• In this interpretation, Benjamin has been tainted by his relationship with Mrs Robinson and her alcoholic self-loathing.• Will their reputations be tainted by something that may end up a cruel game of Washington politics?• The spreading leprosy taints ev'ry part, Infects each limb, and sickens at the heart.• Catty and stale aromas may develop and taint the beer.• It appeared the water supply had been tainted with a deadly toxin.

taint2 noun [singular]

BADthe appearance of being related to something bad or morally wrong 污点，瑕疵；玷污

taint of

The city has suffered for many years under the taint of corruption.

该城市多年遭受腐败之苦。

Examples from the Corpus

taint• But the scruples would spawn in his head, giving a cynical taint to his image of himself.• Neither were judicial and court officials free from the taint of corruption.• From the taint of sadism, the hint of superiority, the woman evidently wanted her to fail.• By age thirty, $ 500,000-and that sum had the taint of the mediocre.• I understood the taint that adheres to everything domestic.• The taint of politics in conservation is not peculiar to the federal agencies.• Other aspects of acceptability relate to the product behaviour in relation to taint, corrosion and harmonisation with house colour codes.

taint of• The city has suffered for many years under the taint of corruption.

Origin taint1

(1500-1600) Partly from Anglo-French teinter “to color”, from Latin tingere ( → TINGE2); partly from Old French ataint, from ataindre ( → ATTAIN)

LDOCE Online

Chinese

Corpus