herbicide (redirected from weed killer)

herbicide

[er′-, her′bisīd]

an agent that is destructive to weeds or causes an alteration in their normal growth.

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herbicide

a substance that destroys weeds. A large number of chemical compounds are used as general and selective herbicides. Most of them have very low toxicity because their availability to animals on recently sprayed pasture is an obvious toxic hazard. Most poisoning incidents arise when animals have accidental access to large volumes of the agent, e.g. if there has been a spillage. The well-known herbicide groupings are bipyridyls, chlorinated acids, dinitro compounds, phenoxyacid derivatives, thiocarbamates and triazines.