toxin

UK/ˈtɒksɪn/US/ˈtɑksɪn/

nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutraltechnical · an editor’s judgement

Other forms: toxins

A toxin is a poisonous substance produced by a living thing. Bacteria, plants, snakes and spiders all make them.

That origin is what distinguishes a toxin from a poison generally, since a toxin is biological and a toxic chemical need not be. Botulinum toxin is the most poisonous substance known and is injected in tiny doses as Botox. The word is much abused in advertising, where detoxing and flushing out toxins describe processes the liver and kidneys already do perfectly well.

Definitions of toxin

1nountoxinA poisonous substance produced by a living organism.C1
“The illness is caused by a toxin rather than the bacteria themselves.”

Also accepted in games: poison

Where it comes from

Latin
toxicum
English, today
toxin

From toxicum + -in. From Latin toxicum, equivalent to toxi + in.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 15 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

toxin in the wild

A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms.
Toxin
Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin (commonly referred to as botox), which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.
Botulism
Foodborne botulism happens when food containing the toxin is eaten.
Botulism
Botulinum toxin is an acetylcholine release inhibitor and a neuromuscular blocking agent.
Botulinum toxin
Botulinum toxin was developed as a biological agent by the Soviet, United States, and Iraqi biological weapons programs.
Botulinum toxin

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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