herbicide

herbicide — noun

1. a chemical substance applied by farmers or gardeners to kill weeds and other wil

1.nounB2
Definition

a chemical substance applied by farmers or gardeners to kill weeds and other wild plants that harm the growth of crops

Example

Élise applied herbicide to her vegetable patch to keep the weeds from spreading.

collocation: apply herbicide

Before planting corn, the farmers sprayed herbicide over the entire field.

Common collocations
  • apply herbicide
  • spray herbicide
  • use herbicide
  • chemical herbicide
  • selective herbicide
Synonyms
  • weedkiller

    less formal, everyday term common in gardening contexts; herbicide is the technical or formal equivalent

  • defoliant

    narrower: a chemical that causes leaves to fall off, not necessarily killing the whole plant

Usage Note

Can be used as uncountable (e.g. 'the field was treated with herbicide') or countable (e.g. 'different herbicides control different weeds'). Like other -cide words (pesticide, insecticide), it is formed from Latin herba ('plant') + -cide ('killer').

Common Mistakes

The farmer sprayed herbicide to kill the insects.
The farmer sprayed insecticide to kill the insects.
Herbicide kills plants, not insects or other animals.

Word family

  • herbicidal
    adjectiveC1
  • herbicide-resistant
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Herbicide, weedkiller, pesticide, insecticide, and fungicide are all chemical agents used to control unwanted organisms, but each targets a different group. Herbicide specifically kills plants or stops their growth, especially weeds. Weedkiller is the informal, everyday equivalent of herbicide, common when talking about a home garden. Pesticide is the broadest term, covering any agent that destroys pests — including insects, weeds, fungi, and rodents. Within the pesticide family, insecticide targets insects, and fungicide targets fungi. For example, a farmer might spray herbicide to control weeds, insecticide to kill grasshoppers, and fungicide to stop mould from spoiling the grape harvest. Use 'herbicide' in formal, scientific, or news writing; choose 'weedkiller' in casual conversation.

weedkillerpesticide ↗insecticidefungicide

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • herbicide resistance
  • herbicide application
  • herbicide treatment

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Herbicide was formed in English in the late 1800s by joining the Latin word herba ('plant' or 'grass') with -cide ('killer'), a suffix that comes from Latin caedere ('to cut down' or 'to kill'). It was modelled on earlier words like pesticide and follows the same pattern as insecticide and fungicide.