| Library / 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)
