nerve agent

noun

: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form, disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses, and may cause breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and death : nerve gas

Examples of nerve agent in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Carry-On, about a young Transportation Security Administration officer who is blackmailed into allowing a nerve agent on board a Christmas Eve flight, had 97 million views. —Megan Poinski, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025

In 2021, Navalny returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. —Anna Cooban, CNN, 16 Feb. 2025

The film was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (The Commuter) and centers around TSA agent Ethan Kopek (Egerton) who finds himself in a tight situation when the mysterious Traveler (Bateman) blackmails him into letting a piece of carry-on luggage with a dangerous nerve agent through security. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025

Over the course of its 40 year-long chemical weapons program, Syria mastered the production of deadly nerve agents and developed an arsenal of chemical munitions. —Gregory D. Koblentz, Foreign Affairs, 19 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nerve agent

• newsagent
• reagent
• subagent

Medical Definition

nerve agent

noun

: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses by inhibiting cholinesterase and especially acetylcholinesterase and is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form : nerve gas

Note: Nerve agents may be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested in contaminated food or water. Symptoms of exposure include runny nose, increased salivation, sweating, breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and respiratory arrest leading to death.