Agent Orange

noun

1. a powerful herbicide and defoliant containing trace amounts of dioxin, a toxic impurity suspected of causing serious health problems, including cancer and genetic damage, in some persons exposed to it and birth defects in their offspring: used by U.S. armed forces during the Vietnam War to defoliate jungles.

Agent Orange

noun

1. a highly poisonous herbicide used as a spray for defoliation and crop destruction, esp by US forces during the Vietnam War

Agent Orange

1. A mixture of equal amounts of two herbicides known as 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, and trace amounts of the toxic contaminant dioxin (a byproduct of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T). It was used in the Vietnam War to defoliate areas of forest.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Agent Orange¹

First recorded in 1965–70; so called from the color of the identifying stripe on the drums in which it was stored

Word History and Origins

Origin of Agent Orange¹

C20: named after the identifying colour stripe on its container