germ warfare

noun

: the use of harmful microorganisms (such as bacteria) as weapons in war

Examples of germ warfare in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These germ warfare programs raised fears that a rogue country or terrorist cell could start an epidemic that would kill millions of people. — Meredith Wolf Schizer, Newsweek, 19 Feb. 2025

World Mosquito Program View 1 Images In a completely different kind of germ warfare, researchers have tested out a way to drop mosquitoes infected with disease-fighting bacteria over populations prone to outbreaks of dengue fever. — Michael Franco, New Atlas, 1 Aug. 2024

Imperial Japan killed as many as 30 million civilians in East Asia, while subjecting many thousands to torturous medical experiments and germ warfare. — Eric Levitz, Vox, 3 June 2024

There was sufficient evidence from eyewitnesses and accomplices to lend credibility to charges of germ warfare. — TIME, 4 May 2024

The country had been on the receiving end of germ warfare, on the part of the Imperial Japanese Army’s biowarfare Unit 731 during World War II. — Yanzhong Huang, Foreign Affairs, 5 Mar. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for germ warfare

• aftercare
• anywhere
• billionaire
• chinaware
• debonair
• dinnerware
• disrepair
• doctrinaire
• earthenware
• everywhere
• frigidaire
• kitchenware

Medical Definition

germ warfare

noun

germ war·​fare -ˈwȯr-ˌfe(ə)r 

: the use of harmful microorganisms (as bacteria) as weapons in war