toxin

noun tox·in \ ˈtäk-sən \

Updated on: 15 May 2018

Definition of toxin

: a poisonous substance that is a specific product of the metabolic activities of a living organism and is usually very unstable, notably toxic when introduced into the tissues, and typically capable of inducing antibody formation

See toxin defined for English-language learners

See toxin defined for kids

Examples of toxin in a Sentence

the toxin in scorpion venom
read a pamphlet on the toxin responsible for botulism, a food poisoning that can cause paralysis and even death in some cases

Recent Examples of toxin from the Web

Volunteers will be asked to give blood and urine samples that could help reveal how environmental threats — like toxins and air pollution — activate genes that cause disease.

— gary robbins, sandiegouniontribune.com, "NIH begins enrolling volunteers in historic study of how and why people get sick," 5 May 2018
Figs This fruit’s tiny seeds are saturted with nutrients that help cleanse the digestive track of toxins and mucus, which, according to Snyder, may prevent important nutrients from getting to the skin.

— jenna rennert, Vogue, "Get Better Skin by Next Week With These 9 Beauty Foods," 5 May 2018
Pinnacle Foods' ready-to-eat dried, sliced beef by Armour Star may have been tainted by staphylococcal enterotoxin and clostridial toxin.

— zlati meyer, USA TODAY, "Pinnacle Foods chipped beef recalled nationwide by USDA for possible toxin contamination," 30 Apr. 2018
Erase the Past Clearing your browser history is another way to cleanse your computer of toxins and hogged space.

— paul sarconi, WIRED, "How to Clean Your Computer Inside and Out," 24 Apr. 2018
Shiga toxins were discovered first in Shigella dysenteriae, the bacterium that causes dysentery.

— Scientific American, "Why Are Some E. Coli Strains Deadly While Others Live Peacefully in Our Bodies?," 24 Apr. 2018
Every day, animals living in or near earth’s waters are either entangled in plastics, ingesting plastics or suffering toxins emitted by those plastics.

— pat lenhoff, chicagotribune.com, "Column: Environmental concerns should be on our minds all year," 19 Apr. 2018
About two weeks since the mother of three went under the knife for her high-school sweetheart, both have recovered well and Abel no longer has to undergo gruelling dialysis treatment to filter the toxins and excess water from his body.

— martin vassolo, miamiherald, "His wife gave him a kidney. Now, he’s on dirty dish duty for life | Miami Herald," 5 Apr. 2018
American cockroaches have more enzymes to break down toxins and stronger immune systems.

— sarah gibbens, National Geographic, "This Cockroach Can Survive Anywhere—Its DNA Proves It," 21 Mar. 2018

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

toxins Are Often Found in Nature

Long before chemists started creating poisons from scratch, humans were employing natural toxins for killing weeds and insects. For centuries South American tribes have used the toxin curare, extracted from a native vine, to tip their arrows. The garden flower called wolfsbane or monkshood is the source of aconite, an extremely potent toxin. The common flower known as jimsonweed contains the deadly poison scopolamine. And the castor-oil plant yields the almost unbelievably poisonous toxin called ricin. Today we hear health advisers of all kinds talk about ridding the body of toxins; but they're usually pretty vague about which ones they mean, and most of these "toxins" wouldn't be called that by biologists.

Origin and Etymology of toxin

International Scientific Vocabulary

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1886

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

toxin Synonyms

TOXIN Defined for English Language Learners

toxin

noun

Definition of toxin for English Language Learners

: a poisonous substance and especially one that is produced by a living thing

TOXIN Defined for Kids

toxin

noun tox·in \ ˈtäk-sən \

Definition of toxin for Students

: a poison produced by a living thing (as an animal or bacterium)

Medical Dictionary

toxin

noun tox·in \ ˈtäk-sən \

medical Definition of toxin

: a colloidal proteinaceous poisonous substance that is a specific product of the metabolic activities of a living organism and is usually very unstable, notably toxic when introduced into the tissues, and typically capable of inducing antibody formation