Meanings
present singular third person fluoridates · participle present fluoridating · participle past fluoridated · past fluoridated
- transitivechemistryTo add fluoride to something, especially to drinking water in order to reduce tooth decay.
In England, about one in 10 people has fluoridated drinking water, though a programme has since been introduced to fluoridate water for 1.6 million people in north-east England.
2025 March 29, Nadine Yousif, “Utah becomes first US state to ban fluoride in its water”, in BBC1 more example
Out of the 484 Utah water systems that reported data in 2024, only 66 fluoridated their water, an Associated Press analysis showed. The largest was the state’s biggest city, Salt Lake City.
2025 March 28, “Utah becomes the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water”, in CNN, sourced from Associated PressSynonyms: fluoridize
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo add fluoride to something, especially to drinking water in order to reduce tooth decay.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Back-formation from fluoridation, equivalent to fluoride + -ate.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
fluoridate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fluoridate
“fluoridate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fluoridate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fluoridate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fluoridate.
Source: fluoridate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.