pesticide

Definition

Anything, especially a synthetic substance but also any substance (e.g. sulfur), or virus, bacterium, or other organism, which kills or suppresses the activities of pests.

Etymology

From pest + -i- + -cide.

Example Sentences

• "“Twelve pesticides commonly applied to citrus groves are slated for study in the project’s plots,” reports Tom S. Bellows, UC Riverside assistant entomologist. They include four acaricides (Morestan, Kelthane, Pictran, Vendex), four thripsicides (Cygon, Carzol, Orthene, Sabadilla), and four scalicides (Parathion, Supracide, Lorsban, Sevin)."
• "Too much pesticide was applied and then washed from the fields by rains and surface runoff."
• "Pesticide and fertilizer use has been recorded since ancient times, […]"

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