paraquat
noun
para·quat ˈper-ə-ˌkwät 
ˈpa-rə-
: a highly toxic contact herbicide containing a salt of a cation [C12H14N2]2+
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In two of the species, resistance to oxidative stress went up when the queen was removed, almost doubling the workers’ chance of surviving treatment with paraquat. 
Tim Vernimmen, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Jan. 2022 Kalmuss-Katz said paraquat has also been found to cause kidney and respiratory problems. Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Sep. 2021 But sometimes the pigweed can appear to resurrect itself even after an application of paraquat: Nicolet recalled a recent instance in which the weeds appeared to die, only to start growing again a few days later. New York Times, 11 Aug. 2021 The Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump proposed last year to renew U.S. registration of paraquat for 15 years, the renewal period set by law while banning nearly all aerial spraying of the herbicide. Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Sep. 2021 This field had been sprayed between plantings with an herbicide containing paraquat. New York Times, 11 Aug. 2021 An investigation by Public Eye, a Swiss NGO, and Unearthed, the journalism branch of Greenpeace, quotes the doctor Shankar Ramchandani, who went on a 2019 hunger strike in Odisha, India to protest paraquat sales. Christine Ro, Forbes, 4 Apr. 2021 Similarly, in South Korea, a ban on the herbicide paraquat was followed by a 50% decrease in suicide deaths from pesticide poisoning from 2011-2013. Katie Hunt, CNN, 9 Sep. 2019 For comparison, a 2010 study found that 42.7 percent of people admitted to two Sri Lankan hospitals for suicide attempts involving the herbicide paraquat wound up dying. Dylan Matthews, Vox, 15 Nov. 2018 See More
Tim Vernimmen, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Jan. 2022 Kalmuss-Katz said paraquat has also been found to cause kidney and respiratory problems. Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Sep. 2021 But sometimes the pigweed can appear to resurrect itself even after an application of paraquat: Nicolet recalled a recent instance in which the weeds appeared to die, only to start growing again a few days later. New York Times, 11 Aug. 2021 The Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump proposed last year to renew U.S. registration of paraquat for 15 years, the renewal period set by law while banning nearly all aerial spraying of the herbicide. Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Sep. 2021 This field had been sprayed between plantings with an herbicide containing paraquat. New York Times, 11 Aug. 2021 An investigation by Public Eye, a Swiss NGO, and Unearthed, the journalism branch of Greenpeace, quotes the doctor Shankar Ramchandani, who went on a 2019 hunger strike in Odisha, India to protest paraquat sales. Christine Ro, Forbes, 4 Apr. 2021 Similarly, in South Korea, a ban on the herbicide paraquat was followed by a 50% decrease in suicide deaths from pesticide poisoning from 2011-2013. Katie Hunt, CNN, 9 Sep. 2019 For comparison, a 2010 study found that 42.7 percent of people admitted to two Sri Lankan hospitals for suicide attempts involving the herbicide paraquat wound up dying. Dylan Matthews, Vox, 15 Nov. 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
para- + quaternary
First Known Use
circa 1961, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
paraquat
noun
para·quat ˈpar-ə-ˌkwät
: an herbicide containing a salt of a cation [C12H14N2]2+ that is used especially as a weed killer and that is extremely toxic to the liver, kidneys, and lungs if ingested