ScienceAugust 23, 2026

defanged

dee-FANGD

Definition

Rendered harmless or stripped of the power to cause damage, metaphorical or literal.

Etymology

Derived from the prefix 'de-', meaning to remove or reverse, and 'fang,' which comes from the Old English word 'fang,' meaning a catch, seizure, or grasping tooth.

In the news

The article uses the term to describe how the long-standing, dangerous myth about baby rattlesnakes being more venomous has been effectively neutralized and debunked by scientific evidence.

Scientists just debunked a dangerous myth about baby rattlesnakes

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