toxin

American  

[tok-sin] / ˈtɒk sɪn /

noun

1. any poison produced by an organism, characterized by antigenicity in certain animals and high molecular weight, and including the bacterial toxins that are the causative agents of tetanus, diphtheria, etc., and such plant and animal toxins as ricin and snake venom.

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toxin British  

/ ˈtɒksɪn /

noun

1. any of various poisonous substances produced by microorganisms that stimulate the production of neutralizing substances (antitoxins) in the body See also endotoxin exotoxin

2. any other poisonous substance of plant or animal origin

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toxin Scientific  

/ tŏk′sĭn /

1. A poisonous substance, especially one produced by a living organism. Toxins can be products or byproducts of ordinary metabolism, such as lactic acid, and they must be broken down or excreted before building up to dangerous levels. Toxins can facilitate survival, as with snake venom that kills or immobilizes prey, or cyanide produced by some plants as a defense against being eaten. Bacterial toxins can sometimes be neutralized with antitoxins.

2. Compare antitoxin

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Related Words

See poison.

Etymology

Origin of toxin

First recorded in 1885–90; tox(ic) + -in ²

Explanation

A toxin is an organic poison — it’s made by plants and animals. Toxins make people sick. If your appendix bursts, toxins are released into your blood stream. Also breathing in a toxin like ricin will make you very ill. Toxins are naturally occurring poisons. There are the toxins your body creates and some that animals and plants excrete. Some are harmful — getting stung by a stingray can kill you because its toxin is powerful. Toxin is the noun form of toxic. The most dangerous kind of toxin is the botulinus toxin, which is the kind found in the bacteria of spoiled food and is used to make Botox. Another dangerous toxin, ricin, is made from castor beans.

Example Sentences

Fake products might show the active ingredient as “Botulinum Toxin Type A,” include languages other than English, or indicate 150-unit doses, according to the California Department of Public Health.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2024

Toxin impairs memory, possibly contributing to large numbers of starving animals in California.

From National Geographic • Dec. 14, 2015

Helping families manage chronic stress, which can harm young brains, also makes a difference, as Clancy Blair writes in “Treating a Toxin to Learning,” on page 64.

From Scientific American • Aug. 2, 2012

He has briefed Biological Toxin Weapons Convention numerous U.S. government agencies on synthetic biology.

From Slate • Jan. 19, 2012

Certainly, on the surface, there are not two theories less unlike than the one which finds the solution of all things in Toxin, and the other which finds it in God.

From None Other Gods by Benson, Robert Hugh

Related Words

• contamination
• germ
• infection
• venom
• virus