biodefense

noun

bio·​de·​fense ˌbī-(ˌ)ō-di-ˈfen(t)s 

often attributive

: the means or methods of preventing, detecting, or managing an attack involving biological weapons

Examples of biodefense in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The yet to be released national biodefense strategy, which was called for in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, is required to address natural, deliberate, and accidental pandemic threats, international and domestic. —Tom Inglesby, Foreign Affairs, 21 Nov. 2017

Ideas By Raj Panjabi June 11, 2024 3:58 PM EDT Dr. Raj Panjabi is former White House Senior Director for global health security and biodefense and on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. —Raj Panjabi, TIME, 11 June 2024

Luciana Borio is an infectious disease physician, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, a venture partner at ARCH Venture Partners, and former director for medical and biodefense preparedness policy at the National Security Council. —Luciana Borio and Phil Krause, STAT, 12 Apr. 2024

China’s struggles with lab safety carry danger of another pandemic Beijing has called for the United States to release more details of its own biodefense research and has echoed unproven claims made by Moscow that the Pentagon is financing biological weapons labs in Ukraine. —Cate Cadell, Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

biodefense

noun

bio·​de·​fense -di-ˈfen(t)s 

: the means or methods of preventing, detecting, or managing an attack involving biological weapons

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases money will continue to support research in biodefense and emerging infectious diseases throughout the Midwest.

—St. Louis Business Journal

—often used before another noun

… funding for biodefense research and public-health preparedness has soared …

—Discover