lethal

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Related to lethal: Lethal injection

le·thal

(lē′thəl)

adj.

1. Causing or capable of causing death: a lethal weapon. See Synonyms at fatal.

2. Extremely harmful; devastating: accusations lethal to the candidate's image.

[Late Latin lēthālis, alteration (probably influenced by Lēthē, Lethe) of Latin lētālis, from lētum, death.]

le·thal′i·ty (lē-thăl′ĭ-tē) n.

le′thal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lethal

(ˈliːθəl)

adj

1. able to cause or causing death

2. of or suggestive of death

[C16: from Latin lēthālis, from lētum death]

lethality n

ˈlethally adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

le•thal

(ˈli θəl)

adj.

1. of or causing death; deadly; fatal: a lethal weapon; a lethal dose.

2. made to cause death: a lethal injection.

3. causing great harm; disastrous: The disclosures were lethal to his candidacy.

[1575–85; < Latin lētālis, lēthalis, derivative of lētum death]

syn: See fatal.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

lethal - of an instrument of certain death; "deadly poisons"; "lethal weapon"; "a lethal injection"

deadly

fatal - bringing death

lethal

adjective deadly, terminal, fatal, deathly, dangerous, devastating, destructive, mortal, murderous, poisonous, virulent, pernicious, noxious, baneful a lethal dose of sleeping pills
safe, healthy, harmless, wholesome, innocuous

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

lethal

adjective

Causing or tending to cause death:

deadly, deathly, fatal, mortal, vital.

Translations

مُميت، قاتِل

smrtelný

dødelig

banvænn

letāls, nāvējošs

öldürücü

可致死的致死的

lethal

[ˈliːθəl] ADJ

1. (= deadly) [weapon] → mortífero, letal; [blow] → mortal; [dose, injection, effects] → mortal, letal; [force] → letal
it is lethal to rats → tiene un efecto mortal en las ratas

2. (fig) (= very dangerous) [opponent] → muy peligroso; [weather conditions] → nefasto
the roads are lethal in these conditions → las carreteras son nefastas en estas condiciones
this coffee is lethal > (hum) → este café es un veneno (hum)
this schnapps is lethal > (hum) → este aguardiente es mortal (hum)
his driving is lethal > (hum) → es un peligro público al volante (hum)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

lethal

[ˈliːθ^əl] adj [poison, drug] → mortel(le); [injection, dose] → létal(e); [weapon] → fatal/e
a lethal dose of sleeping pills → une dose létale de somnifères
a lethal combination (lit) → un mélange mortel (fig) → une combinaison fatalelethal injection n → injection f létale
He was executed by lethal injection → Il a été exécuté par injection létale.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

lethal

adj

(= fatal) → tödlich; a lethal-looking knife → ein nach einer tödlichen Waffe aussehendes Messer; to be lethal to rats/fish → Ratten/Fische töten; to die/be executed by lethal injection → durch die Todesspritze sterben/hingerichtet werden; a lethal cocktail of drugs → ein tödlicher Drogencocktail

(fig) (= dangerous) opponent → äußerst gefährlich; (inf: = strong) drink → tödlich stark (inf); curry → höllisch scharf (inf); lethal striker (Ftbl) → todsicherer Torschütze; this coffee is pretty lethal (inf) → dieser Kaffee hats in sich (inf), → in diesem Kaffee steht der Löffel (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

lethal

[ˈliːθ/əl] adj lethal (to) (gen) → letale (per); (wound, blow) → mortale (per)

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

lethal

(ˈliːθəl) adjective

causing death; enough to kill. a lethal dose of poison.

le·thal

a. letal, mortal;

___ dose → dosis ___;

___ factor → factor ___;

___ gene → gen ___;

___ mutation → mutación ___.

lethal

adj letal

References in classic literature ?

When the fourteen years which Nature permits Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits, And the vet's unspoken prescription runs To lethal chambers or loaded guns, Then you will find--it's your own affair But .

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The oak case that I bought with it cumbers my desk as I write, and, shut, you would think that it had never contained anything more lethal than fruit-knives.

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As he went down the wall, lizard fashion, I wished I had a gun or some lethal weapon, that I might destroy him.

There was no lethal weapon at hand, but I seized a shovel which the workmen had been using to fill the cases, and lifting it high, struck, with the edge downward, at the hateful face.

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Evil besides (which I must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay.

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Dudley Pickering's bullet had done its lethal work.

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It was quite peculiar to the crowded townsmen of that time, and different altogether from the normal experience of any preceding age, that they never saw anything killed, never encountered, save through the mitigating media of book or picture, the fact of lethal violence that underlies all life.

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Lethal injection is the primary method of execution in all states with the death penalty.