chemical weapon

American

[kem-i-kuhl wep-uhn] / ˈkɛm ɪ kəl ˈwɛp ən /

noun

any poisonous, asphyxiating, or corrosive chemical agent designed or intended to incapacitate, harm, or kill a targeted military or civilian group. CW

Etymology

Origin of chemical weapon

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Iran kept hostile forces away from its soil for decades after the 1980-1988 war with Iraq—which killed hundreds of thousands of Iranians, including from chemical weapons deployed by Saddam Hussein.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Just like we agreed not to fight with chemical weapons, let’s just agree to not fight up here,” the team sergeant said.

From The Wall Street Journal

One middle-school band director wanted to understand why his students are so drawn to what he calls “a chemical weapon.”

From The Wall Street Journal

President Barack Obama in 2012 warned that the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and trigger “enormous consequences.”

From The Wall Street Journal

We asked Prof Christopher Holstege, a world leading toxicology and chemical weapons expert, to assess whether our evidence pointed to camite being the likely agent used.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023