Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A substance or agent that kills spermatozoa, especially one used as a contraceptive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A substance used for killing sperm

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a contraceptive agent that kills spermatozoa

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

sperm +‎ -cide

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Examples

  • The most common recommendation by physicians for safe contraception is for condoms combined with a spermicide, which is categorically forbidden by poskim (Tendler).

    Contraception. leBeit Yoreh 2009

  • As I said earlier, a condom or a spermicide is a paltry obstacle to the One who spoke the Heavens into existence.

    The Anchoress 2008

  • We were--at my insistence--using condoms, and just to be on the safe side, I would spray us both down before and after with industrial-grade spermicide.

    Floyd Elliot: Vasectomy? Vasecta You! Floyd Elliot 2011

  • Furthermore, one of the main causes of yeast infections among women is condom and/or spermicide use.

    ProWomanProLife » I knew contraception was good for something! 2009

  • The right for a woman to choose which color condom, which brand of spermicide, which type of birth control pills.

    Obama gets NARAL endorsement 2008

  • Whenever we had sex, we always used a condom plus an extra dose of spermicide.

    Every little thing in the world Nina de Gramont 2010

  • As outlined by historian Linda Gordon in her book The Moral Property of Women: A History of Birth Control Politics in America, ancient-Greek women were told to sneeze, Egyptians tried to block the cervix with crocodile dung (the Japanese did the same with bamboo; African women with chopped grass), and Indians used rock salt dipped in olive oil as a spermicide.

    Twitter Gets Way Personal 2010

  • Whenever we had sex, we always used a condom plus an extra dose of spermicide.

    Every little thing in the world Nina de Gramont 2010

  • One lipstick, pink, Cover Girl; three condoms, foil wrapped, with spermicide; one cell phone, no SIM card, battery dead; a hundred ninety dollars in fives and tens; purse-sized Scope mouthwash, wintergreen; pack of Handi-wipes; key ring with two keys, neither of them to a car.

    Jumper Gita M. Smith 2010

  • Other "barrier" birth-control methods include the Today Sponge, an updated version of the brand made famous on "Seinfield," that involves a spermicide-containing foam disc that covers the cervix and blocks sperm from entering; the FemCap, a reusable silicon cup filled with spermicide that covers the cervix, and the diaphragm, a much older rubber bowl filled with spermicide.

    The Birth-Control Riddle 2010

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