ricin

noun ri·cin \ ˈrī-sᵊn , ˈri- \

Definition of ricin

:a poisonous protein in the castor bean

Recent Examples of ricin from the Web

The $143 million Fort Detrick laboratory, which opened just seven years ago, has been used by the FBI to test substances in high-profile cases, including a letter sent to the White House in 2013 that contained the deadly compound ricin.

— john fritze, baltimoresun.com, "Md. Dems resist Trump administration plan to close chemical, biological labs," 13 July 2017
Federal prosecutors said FBI agents seized castor beans from Layman's home, along with instructions on how to make ricin.

— CBS News, "Feds: Woman sought someone to use ricin to kill ex, in Israel," 5 July 2017
On June 30, the FBI executed a search warrant, allegedly turning up castor beans in Layman’s kitchen, along with a mortar and pestle and instructions on how to make ricin.

— greg hanlon, PEOPLE.com, "’10 Day Gig Overseas’: Oklahoma Woman Allegedly Tried to Hire Someone on Craigslist to Poison Ex in Israel," 4 July 2017
And in one case, a Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov, was killed on Waterloo Bridge in London in 1978 with an umbrella tipped with a pellet of ricin.

— andrew e. kramer, New York Times, "More of Kremlin’s Opponents Are Ending Up Dead," 20 Aug. 2016
Meanwhile, two members of the Minnesota Patriots Council – one of scores of heavily armed US militia groups – were convicted of planning to use ricin, a biological toxin, to kill federal agents.

— david e. kaplan and andrew marshall, WIRED, "The Cult at the End of the World," 1 July 1996

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ricin.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.