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

British officials later announced that the Skripals had apparently been poisoned with Novichok, a group of deadly nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and ’80s and designed to be especially lethal and largely undetectable. —Nick Tabor, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Apr. 2026

He was previously poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok while flying from Moscow to Siberia in 2020, eventually recovering after a long period of treatment in Germany. —CBS News, 16 Feb. 2026

The allegation feeds into a long and deeply contested narrative around high-profile poison cases in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, from radioactive tea to nerve agents. —Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 15 Feb. 2026

He had been imprisoned in an Arctic penal colony since returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. —Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 14 Feb. 2026

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.