When you grow some cultures in your farm you need to use some products against some "unfriendly" things that might harm your crops.
- Fungicides are used to kill fungi or fungal spores.
- Insecticides are used to kill insects.
- Herbicides are are meant to control weeds.
What word could be used for generalization of the words that I have bolded?
Best Answer
I think your definition for the term pesticide is perhaps too narrow.
Per Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary, 2nd Ed., pesticide is defined as (p. 865):
And it defines pest (p. 865) as
Therefore, I think your answer for the general word is pesticide.
See also this comprehensive definition in Wikipedia for pesticide.
There is also the word biocide, which is not as much in general use. It is defined by Merriam-Webster as:
It is a term used by environmental groups, such as in this post by the Green Party of California.