pesticide
Americannoun
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pesticides
plural
noun
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A chemical used to kill harmful animals or plants. Pesticides are used especially in agriculture and around areas where humans live. Some are harmful to humans, either from direct contact or as residue on food, or are harmful to the environment because of their high toxicity, such as DDT (which is now banned in many countries). Pesticides include fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and rodenticides.
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See more at fungicide herbicide insecticide
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pesticide
Explanation
A pesticide is a bug-killing poison. You may have to resort to using a pesticide to battle the ants that have invaded your kitchen, even if you hate killing any creature. Pesticides are most often used to ward off insects or small animals living uninvited in a person's house, or in a garden or on a farm, when they are nibbling on plants or flowers. The Latin suffix cide means "killer," and in pesticide, it's combined with the English word pest, which means just what it sounds like — a troublesome annoyance.
Vocabulary lists containing pesticide
Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science: Natural Resources and the Environment
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Earth Day
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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:
Paula Kahumbu, conservationist and head of Wildlife Direct, highlighted the "lack of evidence" supporting the pesticide theory.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation said this week all manufacturers of pesticide products containing the active ingredient have voluntarily agreed to withdraw the product from the market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
A former electrical engineer who moved from his native Kentucky to take a defense job, Montgomery founded the company in 2023 with an eye toward getting pesticide sprays out of suburban yards.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Specialist species are suffering population crashes due to habitat loss and pesticide use.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Milk is one of the few foods in which no pesticide residues are permitted by Food and Drug Administration regulations.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
“I don’t necessarily think it’s the pesticides or any specific one ingredient that’s making them feel better,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
News that the recent deaths of 15 elephants may have been caused by pesticides sprayed on tomato crops surrounding Amboseli National Park has raised concerns and questions in Kenya.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Their working theory is that the elephants were exposed to the toxin through pesticides sprayed on nearby tomato farms.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The EU and the UK have banned the use of the most harmful neonictinoids, however pesticides are still routinely used, with harmful knock-on effects on pollinators.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
I know the dinner I prepared contained little or no pesticides.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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.
