definitions

median lethal dose

noun

the quantity of a lethal substance, as a poison or pathogen, or of ionizing radiation that will kill 50 percent of the organisms subjected to it in a specified time period. Symbol: LD50

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Nearby words

medially, median, median artery, median bar of mercier, median groove of tongue, median lethal dose, median line, median longitudinal raphe of tongue, median nerve, median plane, median point

Origin of median lethal dose

First recorded in 1945–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for median lethal dose

median lethal dose

mean lethal dose

noun

the amount of a drug or other substance that, when administered to a group of experimental animals, will kill 50 per cent of the group in a specified time
the amount of ionizing radiation that will kill 50 per cent of a population in a specified time
Abbreviation: LD 50
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