from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
adjective Of, relating to, or caused by a toxin or other poison.
adjective Capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous.
adjective Extremely risky or harmful, as a debt for which the borrower is in default and the collateral has lost so much value that its sale cannot cover the amount of the loan.
adjective Causing social tension or unpleasantness.
noun A toxic chemical or other substance.
from The Century Dictionary.
Of or relating to a toxin.
Of or pertaining to toxicants; poisonous.
Toxicological: as, toxic symptoms.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
adjective Of or pertaining to poison; poisonous.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
adjective toxicology Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
adjective of or relating to or caused by a toxin or poison
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[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.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
French toxique, from Late Latin toxicus ("poisoned"), from Latin toxicum ("poison"), from Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikon), φάρμακον (pharmakon, "poison for use on arrows"), from τοξικός (toxikos, "pertaining to arrows or archery"), from τόξον (toxon, "bow").
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Examples
Although we can certainly have toxic relatives, toxic thoughts, or toxic relationships, I generally use the term toxic in discussing two broad classes of toxins: environmental and internal.
Although we can certainly have toxic relatives, toxic thoughts, or toxic relationships, I generally use the term toxic in discussing two broad classes of toxins: environmental and internal.
Lord Patten, the BBC Trust chairman, has signalled that the corporation would address what he called a "toxic" public relations problem by cutting the pay of some of its most senior executives.
Just because a planet has what you call a toxic atmosphere of carbon dioxide and a surface temperature of 1,700 doesn\'t mean it doesn\'t have some kind of life thriving there.
lampbane commented on the word toxic
"With a taste of your lips
I’m on a ride
You're toxic I'm slipping under
With a taste of a poison paradise
I’m addicted to you
Don’t you know that you’re toxic
And I love what you do
Don’t you know that you’re toxic"
November 12, 2007