toxin

[tok-sin]

noun

1. any poison produced by an organism, characterized by antigenicity in certain animals and high molecular weight, and including the bacterial toxins that are the causative agents of tetanus, diphtheria, etc., and such plant and animal toxins as ricin and snake venom.

toxin

/ ˈtɒksɪn /

noun

1. any of various poisonous substances produced by microorganisms that stimulate the production of neutralizing substances (antitoxins) in the body See also endotoxin exotoxin

2. any other poisonous substance of plant or animal origin

toxin

1. A poisonous substance, especially one produced by a living organism. Toxins can be products or byproducts of ordinary metabolism, such as lactic acid, and they must be broken down or excreted before building up to dangerous levels. Toxins can facilitate survival, as with snake venom that kills or immobilizes prey, or cyanide produced by some plants as a defense against being eaten. Bacterial toxins can sometimes be neutralized with antitoxins.

2. Compare antitoxin

Word History and Origins

Origin of toxin¹

First recorded in 1885–90; tox(ic) + -in ²

Synonym Study

See poison.

Example Sentences

Others will pay to test before cleaning or after, but not both, despite clear evidence from the Maui study and elsewhere that toxins sometimes persist.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And yet atollas gain their reddish coloration from pigments called porphyrins, which don’t absorb blue light all that well and which, if exposed to bright light, emit toxins.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He previously said pesticides, mold or environmental toxins could also be to blame.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The thought of diving into that water makes me cringe; just last weekend, Autumn was here, live streaming while she helped clean the river of toxins and pollutants.

Read more on Literature

Its amino acid sequence differs from gyroxine, a toxin taken directly from rattlesnake venom and used in fibrin sealant production.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• contamination 
• germ 
• infection 
• venom 
• virus