herbiciden.

1899 Vermont Agric. Exper. Station Ann. Rep. 1898–99 185 Carbolic acid is a valuable herbicide..but..the herbicidal action is of short duration.

1906 U.S. Trade-mark 48,757 My [sc. W. J. Reade's] trade-mark consists of the coined word ‘Herbicide’. The trade-mark has been continuously used in my business since 1894.

1915 Chem. Abstr. 9 1973 (caption) Herbicides with arsenical base.

1942 W. W. Robbins et al. Weed Control xiii. 229 Studies of herbicides in soils show that the following factors determine the herbicidal effects of any chemical: (1) inherent toxicity of the chemical; (2) adsorption of the chemical by the soil; (3) decomposition..tending to reduce toxicity;..and (6) species tolerance.

1954 Sci. News 31 104 Weeds, therefore, could easily get life insurance were it not for the modern technique of chemical weed-killing, in particular by selective herbicides.

1959 New Scientist 5 Nov. 894/2 In abstracting and indexing the world's literature on weed control at Oxford [Department of Agriculture] we are constantly faced with difficulties caused by there being no agreement on what to call a herbicide.

1969 N. W. Pirie Food Resources ii. 65 In Britain nearly all farms of more than 100 acres use herbicides on cereals.

1947 New Biol. 2 109 During recent years various organic compounds have been tested for their possible herbicidal value.

1971 Nature 22 Jan. 224/1 Herbicidal attack appears to prevent the re~establishment of any new plant community..for at least six years.