3 uses
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? —2 uses
exact meaning not specified
Definition
to spoil something so it is not desirable — as when bacteria contaminates a food; or as when a rumor makes people distrust a person
- The atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins.Chapter 5 — Oliver Mingles with New Associates. Going to a Funeral.... (5% in)
tainted = contaminated or spoiled
- ...of half a dozen houses, with holes from which to look upon the slime beneath; windows, broken and patched, with poles thrust out, on which to dry the linen that is never there; rooms so small, so filthy, so confined, that the air would seem too tainted even for the dirt and squalor which they shelter; wooden chambers thrusting themselves out above the mud, and threatening to fall into it—as some have done; dirt-besmeared walls and decaying foundations; every repulsive lineament of...Chapter 50 — The Pursuit and Escape (12% in)
There are no more uses of "taint" flagged with this meaning in Oliver Twist.
Typical Usage
(best examples)
? —1 use
exact meaning not specified
- There was an old smoky bust over the mantel-shelf, and a dusty clock above the dock—the only thing present, that seemed to go on as it ought; for depravity, or poverty, or an habitual acquaintance with both, had left a taint on all the animate matter, hardly less unpleasant than the thick greasy scum on every inanimate object that frowned upon it.Chapter 43 — Wherein is Shown How the Artful Dodger Got Into Trouble (71% in)
There are no more uses of "taint" in Oliver Twist.
Typical Usage
(best examples)