INSECTICIDE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does insecticide mean? 

• INSECTICIDE (noun)
  The noun INSECTICIDE has 1 sense:

1. a chemical used to kill insects

  Familiarity information: INSECTICIDE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSECTICIDE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A chemical used to kill insects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

insect powder; insecticide

Hypernyms ("insecticide" is a kind of...):

pesticide (a chemical used to kill pests (as rodents or insects))

Meronyms (substance of "insecticide"):

arsenic; As; atomic number 33 (a very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms; arsenic and arsenic compounds are used as herbicides and insecticides and various alloys; found in arsenopyrite and orpiment and realgar)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "insecticide"):

pyrethrum (made of dried flower heads of pyrethrum plants)

DDT; dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (an insecticide that is also toxic to animals and humans; banned in the United States since 1972)

larvacide (an insecticide that kills the larvae of insects)

lead arsenate (a poisonous white solid (Pb3[AsO4]2) used as an insecticide)

lindane (a white crystalline powder used as an agricultural insecticide)

Malathion (a yellow insecticide used as a dust or spray to control garden pests and house flies and mites)

organophosphate (an insecticide that interferes with an insect's nervous system)

parathion (a colorless and odorless toxic oil used as an insecticide)

Paris green (a toxic double salt of copper arsenate and copper acetate)

rotenone (a white crystalline insecticide that has low toxicity for mammals; is used in home gardens; extracted from the roots of derris and cube)

 Context examples 

While the study authors acknowledge that insecticide use can’t be eliminated completely, they say using natural predators can significantly reduce the amounts of chemicals needed.

(Study estimates true value of ladybird as biocontrol, SciDev.Net)

Chlordane is a chlorinated hydrocarbon used as a non-systemic contact insecticide for lawns and crops.

(Chlordane, NCI Thesaurus)

It is also used as an insecticide.

(Nicotine, NCI Dictionary)

Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are becoming resistant to the insecticide used in bed nets to prevent the disease.

(Malaria-carrying Mosquitoes Becoming Resistant to Bed Nets in Southern Africa, VOA)

However, increasing regulations and growing public health concerns about synthetic repellents and insecticides like DEET have sparked interest in developing plant-based repellents that are more effective and longer lasting.

(Coconut Oil Compounds Repel Insects Better than DEET, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

A colorless, sand-like powder that emits toxic fumes of phosgene gas, hydrochloric acid and other chlorinated compounds when heated to decomposition. b-Hexachlorocyclohexane is the beta-isomer of hexachlorocyclohexane and is used as an insecticide.

(b-Hexachlorocyclohexane, NCI Thesaurus)

Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase results in prolonged signaling at the neuromuscular junction, and uncontrollable spasms in humans caused by nerve gas or in insects by some insecticides.

(Attenuation of GPCR Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Current mainstay methods for Anopheles control target mosquitoes resting or biting indoors and rely on synthetic chemical insecticides.

(Genetically modified fungus hailed as malaria breakthrough, SciDev.Net)

The Wolbachia method can help developing countries reduce disease burden, especially when used in conjunction with conventional control methods, like mosquito source reduction, insecticides or vaccination.

(Bacteria-infected mosquitoes slash dengue cases, SciDev.Net)

The team behind the research, from the University of Notre Dame in the United States, note that the development of resistance to insecticides requires innovative approaches for controlling the malaria vector.

(Shining light at night quells mosquito bites, SciDev.Net)