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nerve gas
noun
: an organophosphate chemical weapon that may be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested and interferes with normal nerve transmission : nerve agent
Examples of nerve gas in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
All the while, Trump has continued the Obama doctrine of avoiding large-scale conventional wars in the Middle East and has succeeded where his predecessor failed in enforcing a real red line against Bashar al-Assad’s use of nerve gas in Syria by launching targeted air strikes in response.
—Randall Schweller, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2018
So many of Lanthimos’s movies play like arch behavioral experiments, conducted in a laboratory filled with slow-acting nerve gas.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 21 June 2024
The injuries appeared consistent with the use of nerve gas.
—Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Foreign Affairs, 7 May 2013
And chatbots can theoretically walk a would-be terrorist through the steps of making a bomb, nerve gas, and a host of other horrors.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Feb. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1940, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near nerve gas
Cite this Entry
“Nerve gas.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nerve%20gas. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
nerve gas
noun
: a war gas damaging especially to the nervous and respiratory systems
Medical Definition
nerve gas
noun
: an organophosphate chemical weapon that may be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested and interferes with normal nerve transmission : nerve agent
More from Merriam-Webster on nerve gas
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nerve gas
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