Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Lethal |
LethalAdjective1. Of an instrument of certain death; "deadly poisons"; "lethal weapon"; "a lethal injection". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "lethal" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Health | Deadly, fatal. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonym: LethalSynonym: deadly (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Killing | Mortal, fatal, lethal; dead, deadly; mortiferous, lethiferous; unhealthy; internecine; suicidal. |
Punishment | Capital punishment; execution; lethal injection; the gas chamber; hanging;Verb: electrocution, rail-riding, scarpines; decapitation, decollation; garrotte, garrotto; crucifixion, impalement; firing squad; martyrdom; auto-da-fe; noyade; happy dispatch. |
Scourge | Scaffold; block, ax, guillotine; stake; cross; gallows, gibbet, tree, drop, noose, rope, halter, bowstring; death chair, electric chair; gas chamber; lethal injection; firing squad; mecate. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Lethal |
| English words defined with "lethal": deadly ♦ lethal dose, lethal gene ♦ malignant hypertension ♦ neutron bomb. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "lethal": antibiotic resistance gene, antibiotic resistance marker gene, antibiotic resistant marker gene, antibiotic-resistance gene, ARM gene, Arthropod Venoms, Aviadenovirus ♦ Bacterial Translocation, Bacteriocins, Benzidines ♦ Colicins ♦ death casualty ♦ Fructose-1,6-Diphosphatase Deficiency ♦ Granuloma, Lethal Midline ♦ improvised explosive devices ♦ LD 50/ Lethal Dose, Lethal Dose 50, lethal yellow mouse ♦ mean lethal dose, mean lethal time, median lethal concentration, median lethal dose, median lethal dosis, median lethal time, Megacins, Mice, SCID ♦ Nairobi Sheep Disease Viruses, nerve agent ♦ phacker, Photorhabdus, Pyocins ♦ Ranavirus ♦ Sch-23390 ♦ Therapeutic Index, Trypanosoma lewisi. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Nobody messes with Lethal Lisa. (Saved by the Bell; writing credit: Ana Maria Moretzsohn) Just like the bad guy from Lethal Weapon 2, I've got diplomatic immunity, so Hammer, you cant sue. (Family Guy; writing credit: Dolores Payás) Don't you think I'd still take government service and photolab training over death by lethal injection? (The Unbearable Whiteness of Dean; writing credit: Eric Stormoen) They've proven they have the right to die by lethal injection just like any man. (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; writing credit: Ervin Iunapuu) My limbs are lethal weapons. (Angus; writing credit: Jill Gordon) | |
Lyrics | I'm lethal like Danny Glover (Uh Huh; performing artist: B2K) | |
Clever | Why do they sterilize the needles for lethal injections? (references; author: unknown) | |
Tongue Twisters | Mr. Smith's teeth are thin and lethal. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Columbo: Lovely But Lethal (1973) Lethal Force (2001) Lara Croft: Lethal and Loaded (2001) Lethal Combat (1999) A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle (1994) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Thus, CHF remains a highly lethal condition. (references) | |
DMD is a particularly devastating and lethal form of muscular dystrophy. (references) | ||
There is also the potential for cardiovascular failure or lethal seizures. (references) | ||
Business | Conflicts between rival prison groups, often involved in drug trafficking, continued to spark lethal violence. (references) | |
Economic History | Togo | They inflicted significant casualties, however, which set off lethal reprisals by the military against soldiers thought to be associated with the attackers. (references) |
Human Rights | Algeria | Rioters were shot with lethal (not rubber) rounds, often in the back. (references) |
Algeria | As in the past, such random lethal terrorist attacks occurred throughout the year. (references) | |
Political Economy | Somalia | In Somaliland and Puntland, police used lethal force while disrupting demonstrations. (references) |
Nepal | The police at times used unwarranted lethal force and continued to abuse detainees, using torture as punishment or to extract confessions. (references) | |
Cambodia | Police acquiesced in or failed to stop lethal violence by citizens against criminal suspects; the Government rarely investigated such killings, and impunity remained a problem. (references) | |
Trade | China | Prohibited Imports: The following items are prohibited from entering China: counterfeit currencies and counterfeit negotiable securities; printed matter, magnetic media, films, or photographs which are deemed to be detrimental to the political, economic, cultural and moral interests of China; lethal poisons; illicit drugs; disease-carrying animals and plants; foods, medicines, and other articles coming from disease-stricken areas; old/used garments; and RMB. Food items containing certain food colorings and additives deemed harmful to human health by the Ministry of Health are also barred entry. (references) |
China | The following items are prohibited from entering China: arms, ammunition, and explosives of all kinds; counterfeit currencies and counterfeit negotiable securities; printed matter, magnetic media, films, or photographs which are deemed to be detrimental to the political, economic, cultural and moral interests of China; lethal poisons; illicit drugs; disease-carrying animals and plants; foods, medicines, and other articles coming from disease-stricken areas; old/used garments; and RMB. Food items containing certain food colorings and additives deemed harmful to human health by the Ministry of Health are also barred entry. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Lethal" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 98.62% of the time. "Lethal" is used about 649 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 98.62% | 640 | 10,183 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.38% | 9 | 117,287 |
| Total | 100.00% | 649 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "lethal": conditionally lethal mutant ♦ lethal dose ♦ lethal dose 50 ♦ lethal dose of poison ♦ lethal gas ♦ lethal gene ♦ lethal injection ♦ lethal weapon ♦ lethal yellow mouse ♦ mean lethal dose ♦ mean lethal time ♦ median lethal concentration ♦ median lethal dose ♦ median lethal dosis ♦ median lethal time. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "lethal": lethal-looking, lethal-pop-edge, lethal-versus. | |
Ending with "lethal": non-lethal, potentially-lethal. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
lethal weapon | 702 | force institute lethal | 10 |
non lethal weapon | 124 | american dose hatred lethal | 10 |
lethal injection | 109 | cast lethal weapon | 10 |
lethal weapon 2 | 101 | less lethal weapon | 9 |
communicable disease lethal tropical virus | 72 | less than lethal | 8 |
5 lethal weapon | 49 | non lethal self defense product | 8 |
lethal sky | 44 | non lethal | 8 |
lethal weapon 4 | 33 | lethal ride | 8 |
lethal weapon 3 | 33 | less lethal munitions | 8 |
lethal | 23 | lethal white | 7 |
cheat lethal sky | 22 | gibson lethal mel weapon | 7 |
lethal pressure | 22 | cheat code lethal sky | 7 |
lethal enforcer | 21 | lethal weapon dvd | 7 |
lethal mac | 19 | dholis lethal | 7 |
lethal weapon movie | 16 | lethal poison | 7 |
dj lethal | 14 | lethal affair | 6 |
lethal dose | 13 | ammunition lethal non | 6 |
lethal weapon 2 cast | 13 | charm lethal | 6 |
injection lethal picture | 13 | lethal sports | 6 |
less lethal | 11 | chamber injection lethal | 6 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "lethal"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | vdekjeprurës (baneful, basilisk, deadly, fatal, feral, homicidal, internecine, lethiferous, mortal, murderous, pestilent, pestilential, vital). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | مميت (deadly, deathly, fatal, fateful, gangrenous, grave, internecine, mortal, pernicious), مهلك (annihilating, baleful, baneful, deadly, deathly, destructive, fatal, internecine, murderous, pernicious, pestilent, ruinous, withering), مشوه خلقيا, قاتل (assassin, battle, combat, deadly, engage, fight, killer, manslayer, murdered, murderer, murderous, vital, war). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | смъртоносен (deadly, fatal, homicidal, internecine, lethiferous, mortal, murderous, pestilent), фатален (fatal, fateful, inevitable, irrevocable, portentous, vital, weird). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 致死. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | smrtelný (deadly, deathlike, deathly, fatal, killing, mortal, unrelieved, unutterable), smrtící (killing), osudný (catastrophic, fatal, fated, fateful, ill fated, ominous, vital). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | letal (fatal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | letaal. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | مهلک (Deadly, Dire, Fatal, Mortal, Noxious, Pernicious), مرگ اور (Mortal), وابسته به مرگ کشنده . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | letaalinen, letaali, tappava. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | létal. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | tödlich (deadly, deathlily, deathly, fatal, killing, lethally, mortal, mortally, perishing, unrelieved, virulent), tötlich (mortal), letal. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | μοιραίος (deadly, fatal, fateful), θνησιγόνος, θνησιογόνος, θανάσιμοσ (deadly, deathly, mortal), θανατικόσ (death, deathly), θανατηφόροσ (deadly, fatal), θανατηφόρος (fatal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | ממית (deadly, deathly), קטל י (deadly, destructive, drastic, homicidal, murderous), א וש (incurable, man, mortal, person). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | halálos (deadly, deathly, fatal, fatalities, killing, lethiferous, mortal, pestilent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | membawa maut (deadly, fatal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | letale (deadly, fatal, mortal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 致死 (fatal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ちめいてき (fatal), ちし (fatal, resignation, seventy years of age, topography, wisdom tooth). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 치명 (Deadly, fatal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | marrooagh (deadly, fatal, internecine, overpowering). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwegian | dødelig. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ethallay letal (let off). (various references) mortal (deadly, deathly, fatal, fatally, killing, mortally, to death, vital), de moarte (deadly, deathly, dying, to death). (various references) смертоносный (deadly, internecine, killing, lethiferous, murderous, pestilent), смертельный (deadly, deathly, fatal, killing, lethiferous, mortal). (various references) letalan, smrtonosan (baneful, fatal, lethiferous). (various references) letal (baneful, deadly). (various references) dödlig (deadly, deathly, earthborn, fatal, fell, killing, lethiferous, mortal, terminal). (various references) ที่ทำให้ตายไ"้. (various references) öldüren, öldürücü (baneful, deadly, deathlike, deathly, fatal, fateful, fell, homicidal, killing, murderous, perishing, pestilent, pestilential, virulent, vital). (various references) смертоносний (basilisk, deadly, homicidal, internecine, murderous, pestilent, slaughterous), летальний. (various references) l m chết người (baneful, deadly), gây chết người. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | lethe. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | exitiabilis exitialis exitosus, mactabilis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "lethal": lethalities, lethality, lethally, lethals. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "lethal": nonlethal, semilethal, sublethal, unlethal. (additional references) | |
Words containing "lethal": semilethals, sublethally. (additional references) | |
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"Lethal" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: bethal, cleithan, clethra, dethlac, Eletha, elhill, Gethal, hethel, Ilketshall, Leaholm, leathal, ledal, Leetham, leethe, lehti, lehto, leth, lethan, lethean, Lichal, Lithol, Lithola, Luhta, luteal, lyeth. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "lethal" (pronounced lē"thul) |
| 5 | l ē" th u l | nonlethal. |
| 3 | -th u l | Bethel, brothel, ethyl, methyl. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-h-l-l-t" | |
-1 letter: lathe. | |
-2 letters: eath, haet, hale, hall, halt, hate, heal, heat, hell, late, lath, leal, tael, tale, tall, teal, tela, tell, thae. | |
-3 letters: ale, all, alt, ate, eat, ell, eta, eth, hae, hat, het, lat, lea, let, tae, tea, tel, the. | |
-4 letters: ae, ah, al, at, eh, el, et, ha, he, la, ta. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-h-l-l-t" | |
+1 letter: hellcat, lethals. | |
+2 letters: enthrall, haltless, hellcats, lethally, methylal, thralled, unlethal. | |
+3 letters: allethrin, eightball, enthralls, ethically, hatefully, haustella, headstall, healthful, healthily, lethality, methylals, nonlethal, philately, sublethal, tallithes, tallyhoed, thalluses, thermally, wealthily, whitewall. | |
+4 letters: allethrins, chelatable, eightballs, enthralled, epithelial, ethereally, ethnically, hatchelled, haustellum, headstalls, hectically, heliolatry, inthralled, lightplane, mothballed, philatelic, satchelful, semilethal, shallowest, sheathbill, stealthily, tablecloth, tetherball, thetically, whitewalls. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4C 65 74 68 61 6C |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).-.. . - .... .- .-.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001100 01100101 01110100 01101000 01100001 01101100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)L e t h a l |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)004C 0065 0074 0068 0061 006C |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)467186746778 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Translations: Ancient | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Orthography | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
