biological weapon

biological weapon

n. A biological pathogen or toxin, such as the anthrax bacterium or the smallpox virus, that has been prepared for release on the battlefield or within a civilian population in sufficient concentration to cause widespread illness or death. Also called bioweapon.

biological weapon

An item of materiel which projects, disperses, or disseminates a biological agent including arthropod vectors.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

biological weapon - any weapon usable in biological warfare; "they feared use of the smallpox virus as a bioweapon"bioarm, bioweaponanthrax bacillus, Bacillus anthracis - a species of bacillus that causes anthrax in humans and in animals (cattle and swine and sheep and rabbits and mice and guinea pigs); can be used a bioweaponclostridium perfringens - anaerobic Gram-positive rod bacterium that produces epsilon toxin; can be used as a bioweaponW.M.D., weapon of mass destruction, WMD - a weapon that kills or injures civilian as well as military personnel (nuclear and chemical and biological weapons)aflatoxin - a potent carcinogen from the fungus Aspergillus; can be produced and stored for use as a bioweaponbotulin, botulinus toxin, botulismotoxin - potent bacterial toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum that causes botulism; can be used as a bioweaponSEB, staphylococcal enterotoxin B - a form of staphylococcal enterotoxin that has been used as an incapacitating agent in biological warfare