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

Defector and former intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko died after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 in 2006, and former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter fell gravely ill but recovered following an attack with a Soviet-era nerve agent in 2018. —Emma Burrows, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 May 2024

Ben runs with both and discovers that the onesie has been doused in a nerve agent and that the car was recently stolen by a patient from a doctor at Andy’s mental-health clinic. —Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2024

Lawn and Patterson met whilst working on the BBC’s Panorama and went on to co-write hit drama The Salisbury Poisonings about the unbelievable events that took place in 2018 surrounding the novichok nerve agent and Russian spies. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2024

Navalny was imprisoned in January 2021 after deciding to return to Russia, despite his near-fatal poisoning with a nerve agent months earlier. —Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

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.