nerve agent
noun
: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form, disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses, and may cause breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and death : nerve gas
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web There, medics found traces of the nerve agent in his system. 
Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022 In August, 2020, Putin’s security services used the nerve agent Novichok to poison Alexey Navalny, the regime’s most prominent and impudent opponent. David Remnick, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2022 Britain has accused Moscow of attacking a former Russian agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter in Salisbury, England, with a nerve agent in 2018. Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2021 The Obama administration identified the main poison as sarin, a liquid nerve agent that vaporizes into a deadly mist that human skin can quickly absorb. New York Times, 4 May 2022 To the shock of Navalny and his colleagues, the man on the other end steps right into the trap and begins dropping secret after incriminating secret, including the means by which the deadly nerve agent Novichok made its way into Navalny’s system. Justin Changfilm Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2022 In 2018, the U.K. said Russian intelligence agents were behind the use of the nerve agent novichok to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury, England. Bloomberg.com, 28 Mar. 2022 There was enough nerve agent in that bottle to kill several thousand people. Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 21 Mar. 2022 The former colonel in Russian military intelligence, also know as the GRU, who had lived in Britain since a 2010 spy exchange, was left critically ill along with his daughter after a nerve agent was smeared on the front-door handle of his home. Max Colchester, WSJ, 9 Feb. 2022 See More
Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022 In August, 2020, Putin’s security services used the nerve agent Novichok to poison Alexey Navalny, the regime’s most prominent and impudent opponent. David Remnick, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2022 Britain has accused Moscow of attacking a former Russian agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter in Salisbury, England, with a nerve agent in 2018. Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2021 The Obama administration identified the main poison as sarin, a liquid nerve agent that vaporizes into a deadly mist that human skin can quickly absorb. New York Times, 4 May 2022 To the shock of Navalny and his colleagues, the man on the other end steps right into the trap and begins dropping secret after incriminating secret, including the means by which the deadly nerve agent Novichok made its way into Navalny’s system. Justin Changfilm Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2022 In 2018, the U.K. said Russian intelligence agents were behind the use of the nerve agent novichok to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury, England. Bloomberg.com, 28 Mar. 2022 There was enough nerve agent in that bottle to kill several thousand people. Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 21 Mar. 2022 The former colonel in Russian military intelligence, also know as the GRU, who had lived in Britain since a 2010 spy exchange, was left critically ill along with his daughter after a nerve agent was smeared on the front-door handle of his home. Max Colchester, WSJ, 9 Feb. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1953, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
nerve agent
noun
: a toxic, usually odorless organophosphate (such as sarin, tabun, or VX) that disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses by inhibiting cholinesterase and especially acetylcholinesterase and is used as a chemical weapon in gaseous or liquid form : nerve gas
Note: Nerve agents may be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested in contaminated food or water. Symptoms of exposure include runny nose, increased salivation, sweating, breathing difficulties, coughing, vomiting, muscle weakness or paralysis, convulsions, coma, and respiratory arrest leading to death.