neurotoxin
noun
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The nervous system is almost all-powerful in the body: all five senses depend on it, as do breathing, digestion, and the heart. So it's an obvious target for poisons, and neurotoxins have developed as weapons in many animals, including snakes, bees, and spiders. Some wasps use a neurotoxin to paralyze their prey so that it can be stored alive to be eaten later. Snake venom is often neurotoxic (as in cobras and coral snakes, for example), though it may instead be hemotoxic (as in rattlesnakes and coppermouths), operating on the circulatory system. Artificial neurotoxins, called nerve agents, have been developed by scientists as means of chemical warfare; luckily, few have ever been used.
Examples of neurotoxin in a Sentence
Stacie N. Galang, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2025
Now, about four weeks after centers started reporting the unseasonably early bloom produced by a species of marine plankton filled with a neurotoxin called domoic acid, Warner is asking for more help from local governments in Los Angeles County.
—Erika I. Ritchie, Orange County Register, 20 Mar. 2025
Some are paralyzing neurotoxins, others destroy cells and damage tissue.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 15 Jan. 2025
Several sea lions and dolphins in Southern California have been poisoned by harmful algal blooms
The algal blooms produce a neurotoxin that can kill dolphins and sea lions.
—Christian Orozco, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Neurotoxin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neurotoxin. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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neurotoxin
noun
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