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

/ tŏk′sĭn /

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

"When you don't get dialysis, all the toxins stay in the body," he said.

From BBC

Paida Lajin, which means "slapping and stretching" is a therapy in which people slap themselves and others in order to expel toxins from the body.

From BBC

"It takes away from food production as energy is diverted to metabolizing the toxin. Our goal was to reduce the amount of wasted energy by bypassing the plant's original photorespiratory pathway."

From Science Daily

Possible links may also involve microbiome imbalances, leaky gut syndrome, and exposure to certain toxins, which could exacerbate psoriasis and contribute to other conditions like obesity, Type 2 diabetes and more.

From Salon

In the study published in Nature Aging, researchers sampled cells from young, old and geriatric mice at six time points after inducing injury via a variant of snake venom toxin.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• contamination
• germ
• infection
• venom
• virus