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.
Related Words
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
- outpoison verb (used with object)
- poisoner noun
- poisonless adjective
- poisonlessness noun
- self-poisoner noun
- unpoisoned adjective
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.
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.
Many have expressed fears of an Orwellian-style forever war, or worse, the use of the atomic weapon invented “to end all wars” in a twisted attempt to do so, poisoning the region as a byproduct.
From Los Angeles Times
There are many ways to portray authoritarianism, but “Two Prosecutors” is penetrating in its depiction of a society being slowly poisoned.
From Los Angeles Times
But as we would find out, our smog — photochemical smog — made the air taste like poison and look like something you’d put out with the garbage.
From Los Angeles Times
Ruger said it adopted the poison pill to guard against a potential creeping takeover.
President Dwight Eisenhower believed the Anglo-French intervention would poison Arab states against the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
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.
