infect (someone) with (something)
1. To cause someone or oneself to become ill. Ew, don't infect me with your germs! I know you had a stomach bug just last week! My wife and I are sick constantly. When you have a child in daycare, they infect you with every illness under the sun! I'm a preschool teacher, and my students are always infecting me with their germs.
2. To cause someone to become affected or influenced by something, She's got the most beautiful smile—it just infects everyone with joy. Rachel is really down right now—don't let her infect you with her pessimism. Nothing infects me with delight more than my giggling baby daughter.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
infect someone with something
1. to transmit disease-causing organisms to someone. (Someone includes oneself.) Please don't infect me with your cold germs. Somehow, she infected herself with the virus she was studying.
2. to affect someone with something, such as excitement, joy, desires, etc. Her explosive laughter infected everyone with good spirits.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.