1. Pertaining to anything that is certain to, or intended to, cause death: Any weapon which can cause the loss of life; such as, a dagger or a gun is a lethal weapon.

It is very dangerous to leave lethal weapons where children can get them because such devices can cause serious injuries or even fatalities.

There are lethal spiders that can kill their victims with poison.

2. Descriptive of something that is harmful or causes disaster or destruction: The senator made a lethal statement that is certain to bring his political career to an end.

Ethan made a lethal swipe at a fly with his insect swatter.

There was lethal gas which was leaking from a storage tank in the chemical plant that killed some of the workers or made them very ill.

3. Etymology: from Latin lethalis, "deadly"; from lethum, "death".

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