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toxic - 8 dictionary results

tox⋅ic

  [tok-sik]
Use toxic in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of, pertaining to, affected with, or caused by a toxin or poison: a toxic condition.
2. acting as or having the effect of a poison; poisonous: a toxic drug.
–noun
3. a toxic chemical or other substance.
Origin:
1655–65; < LL toxicus poisonous, adj. deriv. of L toxicum poison < Gk toxikón (orig. short for toxikòn phármakon lit., bow poison, i.e., poison used on arrows), equiv. to tóx(on) bow + -ikon, neut. of -ikos -ic

Related forms:
tox⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tox·ic   (tŏk'sĭk)   
adj.  
  1. Of, relating to, or caused by a toxin or other poison: a toxic condition; toxic hepatitis.
  2. Capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous: food preservatives that are toxic in concentrated amounts; a dump for toxic industrial wastes. See Synonyms at poisonous.
n.  A toxic chemical or other substance.

[Late Latin toxicus, from Latin toxicum, poison, from Greek toxikon, poison for arrows, poison, from neuter of toxikos, of a bow, from toxon, bow, from Old Persian *taxša-, an arrow.]
tox'i·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Toxic

Tox"ic\, Toxical \Tox"ic*al\, a. [L. toxicum poison, originally, a poison in which arrows were dipped, Gr. toxiko`n (sc. ?) poison for smearing arrows with, fr. toxiko`s of or for the bow, from to`xon bow, arrow. Cf. Intoxicate.] Of or pertaining to poison; poisonous; as, toxic medicines.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : toxic
Spanish: tóxico,
German: toxisch,
Japanese: 有毒な
More Translations »

toxic 
1664, from Fr. toxique, from L.L. toxicus "poisoned," from L. toxicum "poison," from Gk. toxikon (pharmakon) "(poison) for use on arrows," from toxikon, neut. of toxikos "pertaining to arrows or archery," and thus to a bow, from toxon "bow," probably from a Scythain word that also was borrowed into L. as taxus "yew."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1tox·ic
Pronunciation: 'täk-sik
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, or caused by a poison or toxin toxic effect>
2 a : affected by a poison or toxin b : affected with toxemia of pregnancy <toxic pregnant women>
3 : POISONOUS <toxic drugs>

Main Entry: 2toxic
Function: noun
: a toxic substance
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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toxic tox·ic (tŏk'sĭk)
adj.

  1. Of, relating to, or caused by a toxin or other poison.
  2. Capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous.
n.
A toxic chemical or other substance.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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toxic   (tŏk'sĭk)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. Relating to or caused by a toxin.
  2. Capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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