Phrase guide

biological weapon

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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A biological pathogen or toxin designed or used for warfare.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any weapon usable in biological warfare

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they feared use of the smallpox virus as a bioweapon

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bioweapon, bioarm

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: weapon of mass destruction, WMD, W.M.D.

Narrower terms: Bacillus anthracis, anthrax bacillus, clostridium perfringens, aflatoxin, botulin, botulinus toxin, botulismotoxin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, SEB

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 生物武器 (shēngwù wǔqì) — biological pathogen
  • Finnish: biologinen ase — biological pathogen
  • French: arme biologique — biological pathogen
  • Galician: arma biolóxica — biological pathogen
  • Georgian: ბიოლოგიური იარაღი (biologiuri iaraɣi) — biological pathogen
  • German: biologische Waffe — biological pathogen
  • Italian: arma biologica — biological pathogen
  • Malay: senjata biologikal — biological pathogen
  • Mongolian: биологийн зэвсэг (biologiin zevseg) — biological pathogen
  • Polish: broń biologiczna — biological pathogen
  • Portuguese: arma biológica — biological pathogen
  • Romanian: armă biologică — biological pathogen
  • Russian: биологи́ческое ору́жие (biologíčeskoje orúžije) — biological pathogen
  • Spanish: arma biológica — biological pathogen
  • Spanish: bioarma — biological pathogen
  • Spanish: arma bacteriológica — biological pathogen
  • Turkish: biyolojik silah — biological pathogen