infecting
- 1Present participle and gerund of infect.
The new strain is infecting people faster than earlier variants.
Infecting a host cell is the first step in the virus's life cycle.
Note
The -ing form does two jobs with one spelling. After a form of be it builds the progressive (the strain is infecting people); at the head of a phrase it names the act itself, as a gerund. Either way it keeps the verb's direct object: infecting a host cell, infecting the water supply. The figurative use works the same way, when a mood or enthusiasm is what spreads: her excitement was infecting the whole team.
infecting is a form of infect
infect, verb: To bring a body or body part into contact with a pathogen so the pathogen begins acting on it; or, of a pathogen, to enter a body and start to act. Full entry
- Spelling
- infect → infecting: add -ing
Use it in a sentence
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