/ English Dictionary

BIOWEAPON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any weapon usable in biological warfare

Example:

they feared use of the smallpox virus as a bioweapon

Synonyms:

bioarm; biological weapon; bioweapon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bioweapon" is a kind of...):

W.M.D.; weapon of mass destruction; WMD (a weapon that kills or injures civilian as well as military personnel (nuclear and chemical and biological weapons))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bioweapon"):

anthrax bacillus; Bacillus anthracis (a species of bacillus that causes anthrax in humans and in animals (cattle and swine and sheep and rabbits and mice and guinea pigs); can be used a bioweapon)

clostridium perfringens (anaerobic Gram-positive rod bacterium that produces epsilon toxin; can be used as a bioweapon)

aflatoxin (a potent carcinogen from the fungus Aspergillus; can be produced and stored for use as a bioweapon)

botulin; botulinus toxin; botulismotoxin (potent bacterial toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum that causes botulism; can be used as a bioweapon)

SEB; staphylococcal enterotoxin B (a form of staphylococcal enterotoxin that has been used as an incapacitating agent in biological warfare)

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