lethal dose

British

noun

LD. the amount of a drug or other agent that if administered to an animal or human will prove fatal See also median lethal dose

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Members rejected an attempt to limit the ability of doctors to prescribe a lethal dose to cases where individuals were unable to self-administer the drugs.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

In 2021, another beloved Central Park owl, Barry, was fatally struck by a truck after ingesting a lethal dose of rat poison that may have impaired her flying.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2024

Yes, yes, I hear you say, but didn’t the Doctor bury Donna’s memory in order to keep her head from exploding when she absorbed a lethal dose of Time Lord mojo?

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2023

Nearly every state that has MAiD allows terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to ask doctors for a lethal dose of drugs that they can then ingest themselves, typically at home.

From Washington Times • Feb. 22, 2023

The amount used on California farms alone could, according to one medical authority, “provide a lethal dose for 5 to 10 times the whole world’s population.”

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023