Word family noun infection disinfectant adjective infectious infected verb infect ≠ disinfect adverb infectiously
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdisinfectantdis‧in‧fec‧tant /ˌdɪsənˈfektənt/ noun [countable, uncountable] DHCMDa chemical or a cleaning product that destroys bacteria → antisepticExamples from the Corpus
disinfectant• In addition, very high concentrations of alcohol can indeed kill cells, which is why it is used as a disinfectant.• School, their old home, smelled of powerful floor wax and disinfectant, the smell of patriotism.• They are sometimes acidic to neutralise any alkaline residues carried over from the washing process and sometimes include disinfectants.• At the end of each shift, the teams remove their dive suits and drop them in barrels of disinfectants.• The Licensed Vintners Association, which represents Ireland's publicans, has told members to provide disinfectant for rural pubs.• Products thus described are more accurately termed disinfectants.• At worst the disinfectant is prematurely exhausted, an effect known as organic overload, allowing large numbers of micro-organisms to survive.• Equally empty once we arrived was the amazingly clean, white-tiled station at Mosholu Parkway, smelling heavily of recently used disinfectant. 