pesticides

plural of pesticide
as in poisons
a chemical that is used to kill animals or insects that damage plants or crops The family farm has gradually moved away from the use of pesticides.

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pesticides That includes the 30x30 program to conserve 30% of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030, advanced protections for wetlands and new efforts to rein in the use of harmful pesticides and single-use plastic. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026 Means, along with his sister, came to prominence within the MAHA movement by arguing that ultraprocessed foods, additives and pesticides could be blamed for many of the chronic health conditions facing Americans. — ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026 Likewise, regenerative agriculture, which outlaws increasingly expensive synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, can help growers keep costs down. — Bella Webb, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026 The Reason Apples Are Coated With Wax After harvesting, apples are washed to remove dirt, debris, and pesticides. — Natalia Vela, Southern Living, 15 Oct. 2026 Not all, but much of a cotton garment’s environmental impact is decided before the fiber leaves the farm, between water, biodiversity, pesticides and synthetic fertilizer. — Sj Studio, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026 Many modern pesticides are non-toxic and formulated with plant oils such as lemongrass, cinnamon, and garlic. — Joan Murray, CBS News, 5 Oct. 2026 Unless grown organically, those plants may be exposed to pesticides. — Sandee Lamotte, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026 Control Apple maggot flies are closely monitored in susceptible regions, and small outbreaks can sometimes be managed without conventional pesticides. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pesticides
Noun
  • Christie’s accurate descriptions of poisons, which serve as the murder weapon in 41 of her 66 detective novels, still hold up today.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Previous strategies for growing plants on Mars included rinsing these poisons out, bringing supplemental fertilizers from Earth, or avoiding Martian soil entirely and using hydroponics.
    — Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Use Insecticides Control chiggers with insecticides like diatomaceous earth (DE), which is a natural insecticide that causes insects to dry out and die.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 18 June 2026
Noun
  • If warmer temperatures mean more weeds, in turn leading to more herbicides, then these chemicals could drift over to nearby natural areas, already a significant problem in Illinois, Zaya said.
    — Finnegan Belleau, Chicago Tribune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Pesticides and herbicides come under scrutiny In one of Ladera’s parks this month Brody’s father watched as volunteer researchers fanned out across the grass with shovels and latex gloves.
    — Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • This is particularly true in states like West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, where medication usage (and diseases like obesity and diabetes) are among the highest in the country.
    — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 29 Oct. 2026
  • As the team has pieced together this tragic penguin mystery, Vanstreels says, the case holds broader lessons for tracking the spread of diseases globally.
    — Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 29 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The examples include possible gain-of-function research and involve both infectious diseases, such as bird flu, and novel venoms and toxins.
    — Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Some venoms paralyze respiratory muscles, while others destroy tissue, disrupt blood clotting, damage kidneys, or trigger cardiovascular collapse.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • In late May, about 50,000 people in Orange County were evacuated because, at a Garden Grove site operated by GKN Aerospace, tanks holding a volatile hazardous chemical called methyl methacrylate were at risk of exploding or leaking toxics.
    — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
  • Munoz is an independent toxicologist working in collaboration with MAHA against pesticides and toxics.
    — Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 10 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Pesticides.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pesticides. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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