Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms and is capable of causing disease when introduced into the body tissues but is often also capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies or antitoxins.
- noun A poisonous or harmful nonbiological substance, such as a pollutant.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Any toxic ptomaine.
- noun A specific poison of albuminous character, immunization with which leads to the production of a specific antitoxin.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A poisonous product formed by an organism, such as a pathogenic bacterium, a plant or an animal, usually having a high molecular weight, often a protein or a polysaccharide, but occasionally a low-molecular weight agent such as
tetrodotoxin .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
toxic orpoisonous substance produced by the biological processes of biological organisms.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a poisonous substance produced during the metabolism and growth of certain microorganisms and some higher plant and animal species
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Today the term toxin is used to described anything that is foreign or poisonous to the body.
The Fiber35 Diet Brenda Watson with Leonard Smith 2007
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Today the term toxin is used to described anything that is foreign or poisonous to the body.
The Fiber35 Diet Brenda Watson with Leonard Smith 2007
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Dr. Bauer pointed out that while the term "toxin" is tossed around, it has no real definition or clear meaning.
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed CARLY WEEKS 2012
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Massey conservation biology master's student Andy Warneford has just completed what he calls a toxin optimisation study in the Waitakere Ranges, west of Auckland.
NZ On Screen 2010
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Everyone gets what they call a toxin build up in their body and the only true way too flush it is with a
Peace Fairs 2009
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They do not have a distinct taste or smell, and the toxin is not destroyed by cooking.
Mushrooms 2010
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The toxin is usually eliminated through vomiting (40 percent) and diarrhea (70 percent) but there may be some limited benefit in administration of activated charcoal to the patient. 16 The GI symptoms usually subside within a 24-hour period but the neurological symptoms may persist for days to months. 10,13 Fluid and electrolyte repletion is recommended for patients with significant GI fluid loss.
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The toxin is harmless to fish but poisonous to humans. 14 It binds to the voltage-gated sodium channels in the nerves and muscles of the body and increases the sodium permeability of the channel. 10, 15 Ciguatoxin is similar to the others in that it is tasteless, odorless, heat and acid stable, and is not destroyed by cooking or freezing. 10,14 But it differs in the symptoms that are produced.
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Chemists from NIST and MUSC used an array of advanced spectroscopic techniques to determine that the toxin is characterized by the presence of copper-sulfur complexes.
Archive 2007-01-01 2007
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The toxin is believed to have come from naturally occurring deposits.
Field and Stream Report: The Truth about Mercury and the Fish You Eat 2004
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