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toxin
[tok-sin]
noun
any poison produced by an organism, characterized by antigenicity in certain animals and high molecular weight, and including the bacterial toxins that are the causative agents of tetanus, diphtheria, etc., and such plant and animal toxins as ricin and snake venom.
toxin
A poisonous substance, especially one produced by a living organism. Toxins can be products or byproducts of ordinary metabolism, such as lactic acid, and they must be broken down or excreted before building up to dangerous levels. Toxins can facilitate survival, as with snake venom that kills or immobilizes prey, or cyanide produced by some plants as a defense against being eaten. Bacterial toxins can sometimes be neutralized with antitoxins.
Compare antitoxin
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Gary Ridgway, the prolific “Green River Killer,” inhaled the same Puget Sound toxins.
The toxins accumulate in filter-feeding fish, and then poison larger mammals who gobble up the fish in mass quantities.
"The way that this is written, it basically would prevent development of all rodent models," except perhaps those that exclusively use a wild-type virus or toxin.
Issued by the Make America Healthy Again Commission, the report concluded that poor diet, environmental toxins, stress, insufficient physical activity and "overmedicalisation" may contribute to chronic illness among American children.
Public health officials say despite fire-related debris washing ashore, there is little evidence of fire-related toxins in ocean water in high enough concentrations to make someone sick.
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