nerve agent

noun

: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form, disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses, and may cause breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and death : nerve gas

Examples of nerve agent in a Sentence

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In the movie directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Egerton plays Ethan Kopek, a TSA agent blackmailed by a ruthless bioterrorist into allowing his red-ribboned carry-on containing a lethal nerve agent to pass through the airport security checkpoint. — Katcy Stephan, Variety, 31 Jan. 2025 In addition, there are worrying signs that the regime had sought to reconstitute its chemical weapons program by importing nerve agent precursors and rebuilding production facilities. — Gregory D. Koblentz, Foreign Affairs, 19 Dec. 2024 Carry-On, about a young Transportation Security Administration officer who is blackmailed into allowing a nerve agent on board a Christmas Eve flight, had 97 million views. — Megan Poinski, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025 In 2021, Navalny returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. — Anna Cooban, CNN, 16 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for nerve agent

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nerve agent was in 1953

Rhymes for nerve agent

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“Nerve agent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nerve%20agent. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025.

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Medical Definition

nerve agent

noun
: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses by inhibiting cholinesterase and especially acetylcholinesterase and is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form : nerve gas

Note: Nerve agents may be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested in contaminated food or water. Symptoms of exposure include runny nose, increased salivation, sweating, breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and respiratory arrest leading to death.

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