nonsmoker

noun

non·​smok·​er ˌnän-ˈsmō-kər How to pronounce nonsmoker (audio)
plural nonsmokers
: a person who does not smoke tobacco : a person who is not a smoker
Radon poisoning is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Jonathan Scholles

Examples of nonsmoker in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In 1987, a year after US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop warned second-hand smoke was causing lung cancer in healthy nonsmokers, Beverly Hills became the first city in the state to ban smoking inside restaurants. Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024 To date, studies of female nonsmokers in Asia have identified risk factors such as cooking oil fumes, secondhand smoke, air pollution and indoor heating with coal, but no research has focused on Asian American women, Gomez said. Simar Bajaj, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2024 Yet another who is a nonsmoker but eats fast food all the time should start with rethinking diet. Katia Hetter, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024 The data suggest that the cytokine secretion in the innate immune response rapidly returns to the level of nonsmokers after a person quits smoking but that the effects on the adaptive response appear to endure for years or decades through a process called epigenetic memory. Alejandra Manjarrez, Scientific American, 14 Feb. 2024 See all Example Sentences for nonsmoker 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nonsmoker.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1846, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nonsmoker was in 1846

Dictionary Entries Near nonsmoker

Cite this Entry

“Nonsmoker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonsmoker. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.

Medical Definition

nonsmoker

noun
non·​smok·​er -ˈsmō-kər How to pronounce nonsmoker (audio)
: a person who does not smoke tobacco

More from Merriam-Webster on nonsmoker

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