Phrase guide

biological warfare

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The use of any harmful organism (such as a bacterium or virus) as a weapon of war.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the use of bacteria or viruses or toxins to destroy men and animals or food

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: BW, biological attack, biologic attack, bioattack

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: war, warfare

Narrower terms: germ warfare, bacteriological warfare

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: gerra biologiko — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Chinese Mandarin: 細菌戰 /细菌战 (xìjūnzhàn) — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Esperanto: kfds — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Esperanto: giggity goo — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Finnish: biologinen sodankäynti — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • French: guerre biologique — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Georgian: ბიოლოგიური ომი (biologiuri omi) — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • German: biologische Kriegsführung — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Hungarian: biológiai hadviselés — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Icelandic: sýklahernaður — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Italian: guerra biologica — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Polish: wojna biologiczna — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Romanian: război biologic — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Russian: биологи́ческая во́йна (biologíčeskaja vójna) — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Spanish: guerra biológica — use of an organism as a weapon of war
  • Swedish: biologisk krigföring — use of an organism as a weapon of war