pesticide
Americannoun
noun
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A chemical used to kill harmful animals or plants. Pesticides are used especially in agriculture and around areas where humans live. Some are harmful to humans, either from direct contact or as residue on food, or are harmful to the environment because of their high toxicity, such as DDT (which is now banned in many countries). Pesticides include fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and rodenticides.
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See more at fungicide herbicide insecticide
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of pesticide
Explanation
A pesticide is a bug-killing poison. You may have to resort to using a pesticide to battle the ants that have invaded your kitchen, even if you hate killing any creature. Pesticides are most often used to ward off insects or small animals living uninvited in a person's house, or in a garden or on a farm, when they are nibbling on plants or flowers. The Latin suffix cide means "killer," and in pesticide, it's combined with the English word pest, which means just what it sounds like — a troublesome annoyance.
Vocabulary lists containing pesticide
Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science: Natural Resources and the Environment
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Earth Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The new law sets France "the goal of decontaminating soil and water polluted" by the pesticide, according to a copy on the parliament's website.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
Durnell, a case centered on whether individuals can sue the pesticide manufacturer over claims that glyphosate, the main ingredient in the popular weed killer Roundup, causes cancer.
From Salon • May 1, 2026
To the right, he pointed, was an old grass runway where pesticide planes once landed and took off.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
In this study, researchers did not directly measure pesticide levels in the foods participants ate.
From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2026
Along with destroying breeding areas, adult mosquito populations were also attacked with the widespread use of the pesticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, better known as DDT, much of it sprayed from planes.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
