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Definition of lethal adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

lethal

adjective
 
/ˈliːθl/
 
/ˈliːθl/
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  1. causing or able to cause death synonym deadly, fatal
    • She had been given a lethal dose of poison.
    • Any sharp pointed instrument is potentially a lethal weapon.
    • (figurative) The closure of the factory dealt a lethal blow to the town.
    • The snake’s venom is rarely lethal to humans.
    Extra Examples
    • All these knives are absolutely lethal.
    • It was a potentially lethal mixture of medications.
    • The pesticide is lethal to all insect life.
    • He has been sentenced to death by lethal injection.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • prove
    adverb
    • absolutely
    • highly
    • potentially
    preposition
    • to
    See full entry
  2. (informal) causing or able to cause a lot of harm or damage
    • You and that car—it's a lethal combination!
    • A shift in shopping habits created a lethal cocktail of bankruptcies and store closures.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • prove
    adverb
    • absolutely
    • highly
    • potentially
    preposition
    • to
    See full entry
  3. Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the sense ‘causing spiritual death’): from Latin lethalis, from lethum, a variant (influenced by Greek lēthē ‘forgetfulness’), of letum ‘death’.
See lethal in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee lethal in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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