contaminant
(kənˈtæmɪnənt)
[f. contaminate v. + -ant.]
That which contaminates.
| 1934 in Webster. 1949 H. W. Florey Antibiotics I. i. 35 He investigated an accidental contaminant which on examination proved to be a strain of B. mesentericus. 1951 Engineering 18 May 588/3 Absorbed films or layers of contaminant appear to play a decisive part. |