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Definition of castor bean
: the very poisonous seed of the castor-oil plant also : castor-oil plant
Examples of castor bean in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Ricin is a poison derived from castor beans and exposure to it can be deadly.
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Nancy A. Youssef, WSJ, "Two Letters Sent to the Pentagon Test Positive for Ricin," 2 Oct. 2018 The brand also uses other sustainable materials like recycled water bottles for the polyester in the laces, recycled cardboard that makes up 90% of the packaging, sugar cane in the foam sole, and castor bean oil in the insole.
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Lexie Sachs, Good Housekeeping, "We Reviewed Allbirds, the "World's Most Comfortable" Shoes — Here's What You Need to Know," 11 Sep. 2019 Ricin is a highly poisonous substance found in castor beans and only a few milligrams of it is enough to kill a human, authorities said.
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Andy Nguyen, Glendale News-Press, "La Crescenta man admits to intending to poison wife with ricin, feds say," 9 Sep. 2019 Castor oil is made by pressing the seeds of castor beans, which yields a viscous liquid thicker than olive oil and pale yellow in hue.
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Elizabeth Kiefer, Washington Post, "Cleopatra used it as a beauty aid. Now castor oil is staging a cosmetics comeback.," 8 July 2019 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin is found naturally in castor beans, and can be extracted to make a powder, mist or pellet containing the concentrated poison.
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Nancy A. Youssef, WSJ, "Letters to Pentagon Held Castor Seeds, Not Ricin; Utah Man Is Held," 3 Oct. 2018 The shell of the castor bean is highly poisonous and can be used to make ricin.
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Eric Schmitt, New York Times, "ISIS May Be Waning, but Global Threats of Terrorism Continue to Spread," 6 July 2018 The seeds of the castor bean plant are naturally poisonous and can be used to create ricin.
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Kirsten Grieshaber And David Rising, chicagotribune.com, "German authorities thwart plot to use deadly toxin in attack, prosecutors say," 14 June 2018 And in Cologne, Germany, authorities acting on information from American intelligence agencies last month arrested a Tunisian man who tried to buy 1,000 castor bean seeds and a coffee grinder online.
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Eric Schmitt, New York Times, "ISIS May Be Waning, but Global Threats of Terrorism Continue to Spread," 6 July 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'castor bean.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for castor bean
castor bean
nouncas·tor bean | \ ˈkas-tər- 
\
\Medical Definition of castor bean
: the very poisonous seed of the castor-oil plant also : castor-oil plant
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Time Traveler for castor bean
The first known use of castor bean was in 1819
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