nerve agent
noun
: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form, disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses, and may cause breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and death : nerve gas
Examples of nerve agent in a Sentence
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is thought to have assassinated his half brother with VX nerve agent in 2017.
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IEEE Spectrum, 24 May 2021
In the United Kingdom, a Russian dissident was poisoned in 2018 with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok, and earlier this month, three Bulgarians were found guilty of running a Russian spy ring from a British seaside resort.
—Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 23 Mar. 2025
In the first decade of this century, when Russian spy agencies carried out assassinations abroad, those attacks had an obvious Russian state signature, as when the attackers used polonium, or the military-grade nerve agent Novichok.
—Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2025
In the movie directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Egerton plays Ethan Kopek, a TSA agent blackmailed by a ruthless bioterrorist into allowing his red-ribboned carry-on containing a lethal nerve agent to pass through the airport security checkpoint.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 31 Jan. 2025
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IEEE Spectrum, 24 May 2021
In the United Kingdom, a Russian dissident was poisoned in 2018 with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok, and earlier this month, three Bulgarians were found guilty of running a Russian spy ring from a British seaside resort.
—Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 23 Mar. 2025
In the first decade of this century, when Russian spy agencies carried out assassinations abroad, those attacks had an obvious Russian state signature, as when the attackers used polonium, or the military-grade nerve agent Novichok.
—Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2025
In the movie directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Egerton plays Ethan Kopek, a TSA agent blackmailed by a ruthless bioterrorist into allowing his red-ribboned carry-on containing a lethal nerve agent to pass through the airport security checkpoint.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 31 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerve agent
Cite this Entry
“Nerve agent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nerve%20agent. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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