pesticide
Americannoun
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
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.
Pesticide residues are permitted in the EU below certain maximum levels.
From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026
A spokesperson for the Department of Pesticide Regulation said the agency has pesticide safety information in multiple languages for all farmworkers but has not created materials for minors.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
The Department of Pesticide Regulation was involved in the investigation, according to federal regulators.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025
Insect repellents are not meant to kill insects, but work by dulling their senses to prevent them from finding humans, according to the National Pesticide Information Center.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2024
Pesticide chemicals had accumulated in her body and weakened the eggshells.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
