Definition of "phosphine" [phos•phine]

• A colorless, spontaneously flammable poisonous gas, PH3, having a fishy odor and used as a doping agent for solid-state components. (noun)
• Any of several organic compounds having the structure of an amine but with phosphorus in place of nitrogen. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Titan life's metabolism might involve chemical compounds such as phosphine and hydrogen sulfide, which are both foul-smelling gases that are toxic to humans."
• "The only gas I can think of is poisonous phosphine which is not especially stable."
• "India exports corn fumigated with aluminium phosphine, considered milder than methyl bromide, across Asia; no other Asian countries have complained of pests."