poison
Americannoun
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a substance with an inherent property that tends to destroy life or impair health.
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something harmful or pernicious, as to happiness or well-being.
the poison of slander.
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Slang. any variety of alcoholic liquor.
Name your poison!
verb (used with object)
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to administer poison to (a person or animal).
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to kill or injure with or as if with poison.
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to put poison into or upon; saturate with poison.
to poison food.
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to ruin, vitiate, or corrupt.
Hatred had poisoned his mind.
- Synonyms:
- taint, pollute, contaminate
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Chemistry. to destroy or diminish the activity of (a catalyst or enzyme).
adjective
noun
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any substance that can impair function, cause structural damage, or otherwise injure the body
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something that destroys, corrupts, etc
the poison of fascism
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a substance that retards a chemical reaction or destroys or inhibits the activity of a catalyst
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a substance that absorbs neutrons in a nuclear reactor and thus slows down the reaction. It may be added deliberately or formed during fission
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informal what would you like to drink?
verb
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to give poison to (a person or animal) esp with intent to kill
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to add poison to
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to taint or infect with or as if with poison
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(foll by against) to turn (a person's mind) against
he poisoned her mind against me
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to retard or stop (a chemical or nuclear reaction) by the action of a poison
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to inhibit or destroy (the activity of a catalyst) by the action of a poison
Usage
What does poison mean? A poison is a substance that causes bodily harm or destroys health, The vile was filled with a deadly poison. In this sense, poison can be used as a verb to mean to give poison to a living thing, as in The farmer poisoned his rival’s sheep. Poison can also mean to harm or kill a living thing with poison, as in The king died because he had been poisoned by one of his own knights. And poison can mean to add poison to something, as in The knight poisoned the king’s wine to achieve his wicked goal. More generally, poison can be used to refer to any harmful or corruptive thing, as in Trevor was doomed by the poison of gambling. In this sense, you can use poison as a verb as well, as in Isabelle’s mind was poisoned by the lies contained in the forbidden books. Finally, poison can be used as an adjective to mean something that can cause poisoning, as in There are many poison plants in the woods. Something that contains poison is said to be poisonous, as in He went to the hospital after being bitten by a poisonous spider. Example: Because we handle chemicals that are dangerous poisons in our lab, we take many safety precautions.
Synonym Usage
Poison, toxin, venom are terms for any substance that injures the health or destroys life when absorbed into the system, especially of a higher animal. Poison is the general word: a poison for insects. A toxin is a poison produced by an organism; it is especially used in medicine in reference to disease-causing bacterial secretions: A toxin produces diphtheria. Venom is especially used of the poisons secreted by certain animals, usually injected by bite or sting: the venom of a snake.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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poisonernoun
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poisonlessnessnoun
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self-poisonernoun
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outpoisonverb (used with object)
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poisonlessadjective
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unpoisonedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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poisonsimple
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poisonssimple
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have poisonedperfect
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has poisonedperfect
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am poisoningprogressive
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are poisoningprogressive
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is poisoningprogressive
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have been poisoningperfect progressive
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has been poisoningperfect progressive
Past
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poisonedsimple
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had poisonedperfect
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was poisoningprogressive
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were poisoningprogressive
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had been poisoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of poison
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English puisun, from Old French, from Latin pōtiōn- (stem of pōtiō ) “drink, potion, poisonous draught.” See potion.
Explanation
Poison is a substance that can harm or even kill you. Arsenic and cyanide are both types of poison—so stay away from them! Mean people can also be poison, so stay away from them too. Poison refers to the harmful substance itself, or the act of giving it to someone. Poison often shows up in murder mysteries because it’s a sneaky way to get rid of someone. We also use poison metaphorically for things that tend to ruin something. A really obnoxious friend who always insists that he knows more than everyone else might poison the atmosphere at a dinner party. Jealousy can poison a good relationship.
Vocabulary lists containing poison
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act V
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The final installment, published Friday, described succession as “the poison at the heart of LVMH.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Research has found acetamiprid can poison honeybees, affecting their foraging capacity and memory, while a 2024 study suggested flupyradifurone could be lethal to some bees.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
At his own stampede speech, Hogan called separatism "a poison" dividing families across the province.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Before 2021, poison control centers nationwide typically handled between 1,000 and 1,500 GLP-1RA related cases each year.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
The robot was just a blur within the poison tide.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
The soil is packed with poisons, and massive dust storms obscure the sun for months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
You see it everywhere; it not only crowds out natives, it also poisons the soil to kill off the competition and ruins biodiversity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
Andrea was a dental hygienist and a mother-of-one, Nicola - a poisons information specialist and toxicologist - had two children and Morgan was an assistant supermarket manager and trainee firefighter.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025
But if the atmosphere poisons me and I die of cancer, I am not enjoying "personal liberties" of any sort…
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2025
Simultaneously, there is a strong tendency to brand as fanatics or cultists all who are so perverse as to demand that their food be free of insect poisons.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Boyle Heights activists are calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to order a mandatory evacuation of the neighborhood, saying a recent warehouse fire has poisoned the air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
The right-back position is becoming a poisoned chalice, either because of injuries or loss of form.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
If you are poisoned by milk, you can sue the manufacturer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
"It's kind of a poisoned chalice for any Chinese defence minister to speak out publicly," said Jennifer Parker, adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia's Defence and Security Institute.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
The orange-stained sky was waiting as I broke into the night, coughing up water and poisoned air.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
In 2020, he announced that he had been severely ill as a result of lithium poisoning: a treatment aimed at stabilising his moods.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Given the state of epidemiology and data analysis, food poisoning probably shouldn’t be a monthlong mystery, and yet here we are.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Unfortunately, raptors get lead poisoning often, and that’s one of the problems we deal with,” she said, noting that their recent patient has yet to be diagnosed with this.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
It was the law of the blocked road and the fouled well—a pig loose on the highway, a tannery poisoning a shared stream, gunpowder stored where it might ignite and level the block.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
By that evening, many of the crewmen had begun to suffer from classic symptoms of radiation poisoning: weakness, headaches, fevers, and nausea.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
