toxictox‧ic /ˈtɒksɪk $ ˈtɑːk-/ ●●○ adjective 
fumes from a toxic waste dumptoxic chemicals/substances/fumes/gases Toxic chemicals were spilled into the river. a highly toxic pesticide► see thesaurus at harmful2toxic debt/loan/asset money that has been lent to someone that is unlikely to be paid back or bring the lender any profit3informal very unpleasant and causing a lot of harm or unhappiness: You are clearly in a toxic relationship and you need to get out of it.—toxicity /tɒkˈsɪsəti $ tɑːk-/ noun [countable, uncountable]: The metal has a relatively low toxicity to humans.
WORD ORIGINtoxic
Origin:
1600-1700 Late Latin toxicus, from Latin toxicum ‘poison’, from Greek toxikon ‘arrow poison’, from toxon ‘bow, arrow’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- toxic chemicals
- Carbon dioxide is not highly toxic to animals or humans in small amounts.
- highly toxic radioactive waste products
- Research has found that the drug contains a toxic chemical that can cause respiratory problems.
- We need more installations for the disposal of toxic waste.
- A pathologist gave the cause of death as toxic poisoning from a combination of Coproximol and alcohol.
- An initial program may include only the most acutely toxic chemicals.
- Certain toxic syndromes indicating a specific substance may become familiar to medical staff owing to frequent local abuse.
- Disulfiram should not be used or used cautiously in any person at increased risk for having a toxic reaction.
- I began to feel slightly nauseous and wondered if Archie's words might be having a toxic effect.
- The plastic is removed by burning it off, a process that creates a haze of toxic smoke.
- This toxic recycling has sucked the life out of political debate.
THESAURUS
causing physical harm – used especially about things that cause harm to your health, the environment etc: · Smoking is harmful to your health.· drugs with harmful side effects
to have a harmful effect on someone or something. This phrase is very commonly used in everyday English when saying that something is harmful: · Everyone knows that too much alcohol is bad for you.
used about things that cause permanent physical harm, or that have a bad effect in other ways, for example on people’s opinion of someone: · Acid rain has a damaging effect on trees and the soil.· The allegations were very damaging to his career.· Constant criticism is damaging to a child’s self-esteem.
formal causing harm or having a bad effect on something: · Employers are worried that the new laws will have a detrimental effect on their business.· chemicals that are detrimental to the environment· policies that have been detrimental to the interests of old people
a negative effect is one that is bad and causes problems: · The car tax had a negative effect on car sales.· the negative impact of the recession in the US
hazardous substances are likely to be dangerous to people’s health and safety: · Hazardous waste needs to be disposed of safely.· hazardous chemicals
toxic substances, smoke etc are poisonous: · toxic waste· toxic fumes· Toxic chemicals spilled into the river.
formal used about something that has a gradual bad effect which is not easy to notice, especially on people’s morals, or on their health: · the pernicious effects of violent video games· the pernicious effect of secondhand smoke
containing or producing a substance that is likely to kill you, or make you very ill: · poisonous gas· poisonous snakes· The plant is poisonous to humans and animals.
toxic chemicals and waste are poisonous to people and the environment: · Crops were sprayed with highly toxic chemicals.· Lead is toxic to humans.· The site was used for the disposal of toxic waste.
[usually before noun] formal noxious substances and gases are poisonous: · Vehicles pollute the air with noxious fumes· The soil may be contaminated with noxious substances.
[usually before noun] hazardous substances are likely to harm people, animals, or the environment if they are not dealt with or got rid of carefully: · Lead is one of the most hazardous substances known, causing cancer and nerve damage.· The building is now unoccupied, and all radioactive or hazardous materials have been removed.· hazardous nuclear waste
extremely poisonous and likely to kill you – used especially about poisons and snakes: · a deadly poison· a deadly snake· Terrorists plotted to release a deadly gas.
containing or producing a substance that is likely to kill you, or make you very ill: · poisonous gas· poisonous snakes· The plant is poisonous to humans and animals.
toxic chemicals and waste are poisonous to people and the environment: · Crops were sprayed with highly toxic chemicals.· Lead is toxic to humans.· The site was used for the disposal of toxic waste.
[usually before noun] formal noxious substances and gases are poisonous: · Vehicles pollute the air with noxious fumes· The soil may be contaminated with noxious substances.
[usually before noun] hazardous substances are likely to harm people, animals, or the environment if they are not dealt with or got rid of carefully: · Lead is one of the most hazardous substances known, causing cancer and nerve damage.· The building is now unoccupied, and all radioactive or hazardous materials have been removed.· hazardous nuclear waste
extremely poisonous and likely to kill you – used especially about poisons and snakes: · a deadly poison· a deadly snake· Terrorists plotted to release a deadly gas.
Longman Language Activatorlikely to harm people's health or the environment · Scientists have recommended that new technology be used to target harmful bacteria.· Many of the products that we have around our homes are harmful if swallowed.· The protests were aimed at ending the dumping of harmful industrial waste at sea.harmful to · The sun's rays can be very harmful to the skin.
something that is poisonous contains a chemical that makes people, animals, or plants etc very ill or could kill them if they breathe it, swallow it, or touch it etc: · Don't drink that -- it's poisonous!· The adder is the only poisonous snake in Britain.highly poisonous: · Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas, mostly produced by cars.
: hazardous chemicals/waste/substances etc substances that are poisonous and will harm people, animals, or the environment if they are not dealt with or got rid of carefully: · Lead is one of the most hazardous substances known, causing cancer and nerve damage.· The building is now unoccupied, and all radioactive or hazardous materials have been removed.· We need better regulations regarding the transportation of hazardous waste along public roads.
chemicals, gases, or waste products that are poisonous and harmful to people, animals, or the environment - used especially in technical or scientific contexts : · Research has found that the drug contains a toxic chemical that can cause respiratory problems.toxic waste (=from factories etc): · We need more installations for the disposal of toxic waste.highly toxic: · highly toxic radioactive waste productstoxic to: · Carbon dioxide is not highly toxic to animals or humans in small amounts.
formal a noxious chemical or gas harms your health and is very unpleasant: · Residents have to put up with noxious fumes from the nearby factory.· Increasing tax on petrol would encourage people to drive smaller cars with fewer noxious emissions.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY fumes from a toxic waste dump Toxic chemicals were spilled into the river. a highly toxic pesticideCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a dumping ground for toxic pollutants
1containing poison, or caused by poisonous substances: fumes from a toxic waste dump Toxic chemicals were spilled into the river. a highly toxic pesticide (=containing poison)· The chemicals that were released were highly toxic.
(=containing poisonous or harmful substances)· toxic compounds such as heavy metals
(=poisonous)· By the end of the decade we could reduce toxic emissions by half.
· Carbon monoxide is the main poisonous gas in car exhaust.
a dumping ground for toxic pollutants (=harmful to people and the environment)· All toxic substances should be labelled and carefully stored in a safe place.
· the illegal dumping of hazardous waste
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Liver damage is known to occur when the breakdown product of a chemical is highly toxic.· Heating oil is highly toxic in the short term, but it evaporates quickly, reducing the long-term damage.· Read in studio A man who's accused of dumping highly toxic waste into a river has been remanded on bail.· Police are warning that the chemicals are highly toxic and anyone who comes into contact with them should seek urgent medical attention.· The drugs used are highly toxic and those in charge have to learn the dangers both to themselves and to patients.· Among that sludge were quantities of the heavy metal Cadmium, known to be highly toxic.· But it appears to be highly toxic, especially when vaporised.· High level waste remains active for 250,000 years and is highly toxic to most life forms.
· Last year it was decided that even less toxic paints could not be put in the ground.· Other less toxic or benign metals such as calcium, magnesium, and strontium are also efficiently dissolved.· Catalysts convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, which is less toxic, but equally polluting to the environment.· Such regimens reduce the cost of administration and may be less toxic.· It is less effective in treating ulcers than carbenoxolone but it is also less toxic.
· The materials available to our grandmothers were either more toxic or less effective.· Levels are 250 times more toxic than the concentration that kills trout.· Only its natural decay product, polonium, is more toxic.· A return to even more toxic chemicals?· However, the initial products of the enzyme reactions are sometimes more toxic than the original chemical.
· Beyond the barrier lay some of the most toxic chemicals known, awaiting destruction by fire.· But there was yet another metal involved: aluminum, which could be the most toxic of all.· This is the first time that plutonium, the most toxic substance in the world, has been discovered in scrap metal.· The waste is the most toxic remains of the industrial accident at Seveso in 1976.· Nigel Armstrong, Leeds, Yorkshire I keep reading that plutonium is the most toxic substance in the world.· The dioxins include some of the most toxic by-products ever created by the chemical industry.
· In Chapter 8, the author describes a number of tests to monitor both nutrients and potentially toxic species in agricultural soils.· The society argues that the assessment was inaccurate and inadequate, particularly as it made no mention of potentially toxic chemicals.
· One week the algae could be clear of toxins and the next week very toxic but no one yet know why.· Blood is very toxic to neurons, which stop working and often die when the blood comes in direct contact with them.· Give any large areas a squirt of zinc chromate primer but beware - it is very toxic and carcinogenic.· A test kit for ammonia is very essential, as it is very toxic.· Warning: Mercury is very toxic and the switch must not be cut open in any circumstances.
NOUN· Beyond the barrier lay some of the most toxic chemicals known, awaiting destruction by fire.· An initial program may include only the most acutely toxic chemicals.· Numerous instances of the dumping or abandonment of toxic chemicals and other materials have been discovered.· That fancy motherboard that runs your computer is dipped in toxic chemicals.· Army scatter-spray these toxic chemicals from planes.· Entire coastal bays and lagoons along the coast have been fouled by oil spills and the runoff of toxic chemicals.· The cause, it appears, is the ever-increasing burden of toxic chemicals to which we are exposed.· You want some weirdo skulking around the aisles, spraying toxic chemicals all over the place?
· The exam-ple that first comes to mind is Superfund, the response to toxic dumps.· The mesquite forests that once lined a river brimming with unique native fish have given way to banks of toxic dumps.
· Laws about toxic emissions, like membership of regulatory bodies, have been dictated by industry lobbyists.
· We campaigned ferociously to ban the stuff that could kill people in minutes with its toxic fumes.· The other, in 1972, happened when a man was overcome by toxic fumes.· They give off thick black toxic fumes, which often prove to be more lethal than the flames themselves.· Also, you may throw on the fire something that gives off toxic fumes.· There was serious talk of ecological suicide, criminal irresponsibility and the evils of toxic fumes merging with alcoholic ones.· Do not use the stove inside a tent because of the risk of fire and toxic fumes.· Rubbish litters our countryside, toxic fumes are belched into our air and radioactive discharge pollutes our seas.· This apparently disposes of the toxic fumes much more safely.
· These pellets should not be used extensively in the domestic market because of the possibility of their producing toxic gases when incompletely burnt.· Our engineers have incorporated a 3-way catalytic converter into an advanced engine design that reduces toxic gases by up to 95%.
· It is estimated that lead reaches toxic levels in the blood of 17 percent of urban children under school age.· The concurrent administration of disulfiram may result in toxic levels of these drugs.· Medical advice suggests that they are not yet at toxic levels, which would pose a threat to human health.· This unmanaged data tide is at toxic levels.· Because of the small difference between therapeutic and toxic levels in the serum, accurate measurements of lithium concentrations are essential.· In general, the long-acting barbiturates have higher therapeutic and toxic levels than the shorter-acting barbiturates.
· Further, soft coal sometimes contains dangerous concentrations of toxic materials such as arsenic, antimony, and cadmium.· These toxic materials are washed down rivers into lakes and oceans, contributing to freshwater and marine extinctions.
· Over the last three years, water pumped from the convention center exceeded state standards for toxic metals on 11 occasions.· They calculate severe leaching of such toxic metals as beryllium, aluminum, mercury, lead, and cadmium.
· The city's canals are used as a dumping ground for a range of toxic pollutants.· One capable of reducing by more than 90% the trio of toxic pollutants in exhaust.
· We report a fatal case of toxic shock syndrome in a 14 year old girl associated with minor day case dermatological surgery.· Unlike necrotizing fasciitis, the toxic shock caused by strep infection was virtually unheard of 10 years ago.· In 1990, streptococcal toxic shock nearly killed Jessica Esquivel, then 6, of Imperial Beach.· In every mouthful a toxic shock.· Since 1990, Bradley said two children besides Jessica have been admitted to the hospital with severe streptococcal toxic shock.· Twenty four hours after admission toxic shock syndrome was finally diagnosed.· If this is the case then the mystery which originally shrouded toxic shock syndrome has been solved.
· New nosodes have also been added to the armamentarium and special remedies prepared from specific antigens and toxic substances.· Well, he claims that her problems are caused by toxic substances she must have eaten as a child.· This is the first time that plutonium, the most toxic substance in the world, has been discovered in scrap metal.· Occupational health laws regulate toxic substances in the work environment.· Be careful with toxic substances and always follow the directions on the bottles with great care.· The toxic substances department must approve it and hammer out a legal agreement with the group before moving forward.· Nigel Armstrong, Leeds, Yorkshire I keep reading that plutonium is the most toxic substance in the world.· Groundand balloon-carried sensors tested the air for toxic substances.
· They included the construction of sewage purification plants in 100 coastal cities and the establishment of at least 25 supervised toxic waste depots.· What about the dumping of toxic waste?· It proposes a two-year ban on exports of toxic waste while the new technologies are being tested.· He feels much of the opposition is based on the false belief that the incinerator will also handle toxic waste.· Even allowing for O'Donovan doing half as much business, this would mean 3000 tonnes of toxic waste leaving Ireland a year.· Unlike the gentle technique described earlier, anti-cellulite massage should be vigorous to help drain away toxic wastes from the tissues.· Ammonia is the toxic waste produced by the fish and this is initially bacterially broken down to nitrite in your filtration system.· Read in studio A man who's accused of dumping highly toxic waste into a river has been remanded on bail.
fumes from a toxic waste dumptoxic chemicals/substances/fumes/gases Toxic chemicals were spilled into the river. a highly toxic pesticide► see thesaurus at harmful2toxic debt/loan/asset money that has been lent to someone that is unlikely to be paid back or bring the lender any profit3informal very unpleasant and causing a lot of harm or unhappiness: You are clearly in a toxic relationship and you need to get out of it.—toxicity /tɒkˈsɪsəti $ tɑːk-/ noun [countable, uncountable]: The metal has a relatively low toxicity to humans.