biological warfare
10
6.1
- noun
- /ˌbaɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl ˈwɔːrfɛr/
- NSFW
:
guerra biológica
- In fact, one disinformation campaign claimed that AIDS was biologically engineered by U.S. Army scientists for the purposes of biological warfare.
- biological warfare agents
- chemical and biological warfare
- weapon of biological warfare
Franz was the Chief Inspector on three UN special Commission biological warfare missions to Iraq.
- Franz was the Chief Inspector on three UN special Commission biological warfare missions to Iraq.
- They built up our biological warfare program, and we used to have an arsenal.
Examples
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Governments around the world are developing strategies to defend against biological warfare threats.
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The convenient thing about biological warfare has always been easy deniability and its untraceable origins.
Fiction book (1997) -
There are about 200 people with the technical expertise to pull off that kind of biological warfare
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One of the main things that happened was the introduction of diseases, which was basically biological warfare.
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For the United States in particular, this was evidence that those sites housed chemical and biological warfare materials.
Academic text (2000) -
They built up our biological warfare program, and we used to have an arsenal.
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Most recently, he's been working for the NSA, specializing in biological warfare.
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The United States and some UNSCOM officials believed that the reason for the Iraqi restrictions was that anthrax and other biological warfare agents might be produced within some of those sites.
Academic text (2001) -
The use of biological warfare can have devastating effects on populations if not controlled.
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Recent reports have highlighted the dangers posed by biological warfare and the need for global cooperation.
Synonyms
6
5.5
An attack using bacteria, viruses or poisons to harm people, animals and crops
4
6.8
The use of bacteria or viruses to make people sick on purpose during war
1
9.6
Using harmful germs and poisons to hurt people, animals, or crops
An event that uses bacteria, viruses, or toxins to harm people, animals and food
An attack using germs or poisons to harm people, animals and food supplies
How Harmful
- NSFW
10
6.1
- NSFW
6
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'biological' (relating to living organisms) combined with 'warfare' (methods of war) straightforwardly yields warfare conducted using biological agents. This follows a regular noun-noun/adj-noun compounding pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The term biological warfare comes from joining biological (living things like bacteria or viruses) and warfare (fighting). Imagine an army using germs or poisoned animals as weapons, so it means 'using bacteria, viruses, or poisons to harm people, animals, or plants'.