neurotoxin

[ noor-oh-tok-sin, nyoor-, noor-oh-tok-, nyoor- ]

noun

a neurotoxic substance, as rattlesnake venom or the poison of a black widow spider.

Origin of neurotoxin

First recorded in 1900–05; neuro- + toxin

Words Nearby neurotoxin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use neurotoxin in a sentence

Massive doses of pesticides, including banned neurotoxins, and antibiotics are deployed against the parasites and pathogens.
3 Reasons to Avoid Farmed Salmon | Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins | July 21, 2022 | Time
His results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1979, transformed scientists’ view of lead as one of humanity’s most potent neurotoxins and helped win him a nomination for a Nobel prize.
50 years of research shows there is no safe level of childhood lead exposure | Michael J. Coren | June 16, 2022 | Quartz
Somfai highlighted this leap forward in efficiency using the neurotoxin strychnine.
An easier, greener way to build molecules wins the chemistry Nobel Prize | Jonathan Lambert | October 6, 2021 | Science News
Alternatively, neurotoxins could once have been more common among rattlesnake species, only to be lost through evolution.
Rattlesnake venom is lethal, but understanding it could save lives | Kate Baggaley | January 25, 2021 | Popular-Science
By then, people had been exposed not only to high amounts of lead, a neurotoxin that is especially damaging to children, but a series of bacterial outbreaks.
The Unfinished Business of Flint’s Water Crisis | by Anna Clark | January 22, 2021 | ProPublica

Some difficulty in breathing can occur, especially if large amounts of neurotoxin are present in the venom.
Natural History of Cottonmouth Moccasin, Agkistrodon piscovorus (Reptilia) | Ray D. Burkett

British Dictionary definitions for neurotoxin

neurotoxin

/ (ˌnjʊərəʊˈtɒksɪn) /

noun

any of several natural substances that interfere with the electrical activities of nerves, thus preventing them from functioning

Derived forms of neurotoxin

neurotoxic, adjective

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

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