Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An antibody formed in response to and capable of neutralizing a specific toxin of biological origin.
- noun An animal or human serum containing antitoxins. It is used in medicine to prevent or treat diseases caused by the action of biological toxins, such as tetanus, botulism, and diphtheria.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A substance which neutralizes the action of a toxin or poisonous ptomaine; specifically, a substance developed in the body of an animal by inoculation with the germs of diphtheria, which enables it to tolerate this poison.
- noun A substance which neutralizes the action of a poison.
- noun Specifically: The antibody to a toxin of bacterial or related origin which is produced as the result of immunization with the corresponding toxin. Examples are the diphtheria antitoxin and the tetanus antitoxin.
- noun In botany, a substance secreted by a plant which protects it against destructive microbes.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A substance (sometimes the product of a specific micro-organism and sometimes naturally present in the blood or tissues of an animal), capable of producing immunity from certain diseases, or of counteracting the poisonous effects of pathogenic bacteria.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
antibody that is capable of neutralising specific toxins that are causative agents of disease.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an antibody that can neutralize a specific toxin
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The only U.S. producer of botulism antitoxin, which is cultured in horses, was a 21-year-old Army thoroughbred named First Flight, stabled at the University of Minnesota.
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One physician may challenge another's faults, ridicule his remedies, call his antitoxin dangerous poison, but their common profession he proudly styles "the most exalted form of altruism."
Civics and Health William H. Allen
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There are three chief possibilities: (a) that the antitoxin is a modification of the toxin; (b) that it is a substance normally present, but produced in excess under stimulation of the toxin; (c) that it is an entirely new product.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" Various
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But if you use horse serum tetanus antitoxin, take precautions against allergic reaction: If the person suffers from asthma or other allergies, or has ever received any kind of antitoxin made from horse serum, give an injection of antihistamine such as promethazine 15 minutes before injecting the antitoxin.
Chapter 31 1993
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In persons who are allergic, or who have been given any kind of antitoxin made of horse serum before, it is a good idea to inject an antihistamine like promethazine (Phenergan) or diphenhydramine
Chapter 31 1993
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"regular" physicians in this country, the antitoxin is a "certain cure" for diphtheria; but how is this claim borne out by actual facts?
Nature Cure Henry Lindlahr 1893
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We know definitely the cause of the disease; we have tests whereby we can determine whether a human being is liable to take the disease if exposed to it; we have an antitoxin which is specific 'in the treatment of the disease and toxin-antitoxin or toxoid with which it is possible to inoculate children and thus establish a resistance against the disease.
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Although diphtheria—a highly contagious respiratory infection that had long been one of the leading childhood killers in the region—had been in decline ever since the discovery of an effective antitoxin serum thirty years earlier, Thomson knew even a handful of cases carried the risk of a deadly outbreak.
The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin 2011
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Although diphtheria—a highly contagious respiratory infection that had long been one of the leading childhood killers in the region—had been in decline ever since the discovery of an effective antitoxin serum thirty years earlier, Thomson knew even a handful of cases carried the risk of a deadly outbreak.
The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin 2011
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Although diphtheria—a highly contagious respiratory infection that had long been one of the leading childhood killers in the region—had been in decline ever since the discovery of an effective antitoxin serum thirty years earlier, Thomson knew even a handful of cases carried the risk of a deadly outbreak.
The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin 2011
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