noun
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A pesticide used to kill insects. Chlordane and DDT are insecticides.
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Compare fungicide herbicide rodenticide
Other Word Forms
- insecticidal adjective
- noninsecticidal adjective
Etymology
Origin of insecticide
Explanation
Insecticide is a type of chemical used to kill insects, like those that have infested a house or a farmer's crops. Words that end in -cide usually have to do with killing, such as genocide, suicide, and patricide. Another is insecticide, which is a word for a substance that kills insects and bugs. Insecticide is a type of chemical, and it often consists of a powder or gas. If your house is full of bedbugs or cockroaches, you need insecticide. Farmers sometimes use insecticides to keep insects from destroying crops. If you're a bug, insecticide is bad news.
Vocabulary lists containing insecticide
"Dr. Seuss" by Jill Foran
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Speeches by César Chávez
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"The Exterminator" by Kirsten Weir
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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.
Unable to afford insecticide, Cuba has been plagued by mosquito-born diseases, overwhelming medical facilities.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
Durnell, and the issue of whether a federal insecticide rule preempts state law.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 2, 2025
The findings appear to confirm the theory that the Bocek family died after being exposed to the toxic insecticide as a result of a pest control treatment used by the hotel they were staying in.
From Barron's • Nov. 25, 2025
Results showed a clear pattern: children with higher prenatal exposure to the insecticide displayed more pronounced structural and functional brain differences.
From Science Daily • Nov. 7, 2025
They all pulled away quickly, just ahead of the cloud of insecticide.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
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.
