pesticide
/ˈpɛstɪˌsaɪd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.25 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Anything, especially a synthetic substance but also any substance (e.g. sulfur), or virus, bacterium, or other organism, which kills or suppresses the activities of pests.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "“Twelve pesticides commonly applied to citrus groves are slated for study in the project’s plots,” reports Tom S. Bellows, UC Riverside assistant entomologist. They include four acaricides (Morestan, Kelthane, Pictran, Vendex), four thripsicides (Cygon, Carzol, Orthene, Sabadilla), and four scalicides (Parathion, Supracide, Lorsban, Sevin)."
- "Too much pesticide was applied and then washed from the fields by rains and surface runoff."
- "Pesticide and fertilizer use has been recorded since ancient times, […]"
- "Diluted neem oil can be effective as a pesticide and can control various fungal diseases, such as powdery mildew, on animals and plants."
Etymology
Etymology tree English pest Latin -i-bor. English -i- Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *kh₂éydeti Proto-Italic *kaidō Latin caedō Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ Proto-Italic *-ā Latin -a Latin -cīdader. Middle French -cidebor. English -cide English pesticide From pest + -i- + -cide.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɛstɪˌsaɪd/
- British English: /ˈpɛstɪsaɪd/