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

Recent Examples on the Web

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is thought to have assassinated his half brother with VX nerve agent in 2017. —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

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nerve agent

• newsagent
• reagent
• subagent

Medical Definition

nerve agent

noun

: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses by inhibiting cholinesterase and especially acetylcholinesterase and is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form : nerve gas

Note: Nerve agents may be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested in contaminated food or water. Symptoms of exposure include runny nose, increased salivation, sweating, breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and respiratory arrest leading to death.