biohazard
Americannoun
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a pathogen, especially one used in or produced by biological research.
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the health risk posed by the possible release of such a pathogen into the environment.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of biohazard
Explanation
A biohazard is a biological substance that's dangerous to people or the environment. Many biohazards are made of bacteria or other microorganisms. Some biohazards are an unintentional side effect of biologists working with or studying toxins or viruses. One common type of biohazard is medical waste — things like used syringes or other tools contaminated with human blood, bacteria, or other microorganisms. The word biohazard was first used around 1973, from the Greek bio-, "life," and hazard, from the Old French hasard, "game of chance."
Vocabulary lists containing biohazard
Words to Live By: Bio
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bio
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: bio
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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.
See Examples For:
Moore said the facility has remained at 45 degrees, which mitigates the risk of it becoming a biohazard due to food spoilage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
Nurses and doctors wore biohazard suits and three layers of medical gloves when they entered his room, swabbing him for virus up his nostrils and in other sites like his eyelids twice a day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
One of the first in the field, Ben gained his initial biohazard cleaning accreditation by cleaning tomato sauce off a desk in 2000.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025
In August there were 23 mostly minor assault reports, consistent with other months, but guards led to more biohazard and misconduct events reported, said Wright.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
She came to rest on the hatbox, the biohazard box that someone had been using as a chair.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
However they remain concerned about biohazards potentially posed by spoiled food.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
Police said Thursday the rental home would be cleared of “potential biohazards and other harmful substances” to collect evidence starting Friday morning.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 30, 2022
Feces, needles, bloody rags and other biohazards contribute to health concerns.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2021
But recently, the gas masks and biohazards are what we’re seeing a lot of—all of our gas masks and the N95 respirators.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2020
It is for use in fieldwork with extreme biohazards that are believed to be airborne.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
