poison-pen letter
noun
a letter written in malice, usually anonymously, and intended to abuse, frighten, or insult the recipient
RELATED CONTENT
Cheesecake, Racketeering, And Other Trending Words On Dictionary.comFood, food, glorious food made its presence known in a big way on this Thanksgiving week edition of the Dictionary.com Trending Words list. From a rarely used plural for beef to a beef over the proper way to describe cheesecake, here's what had you searching!
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- poison pill,
- poison sumac,
- poison sumach,
- poison-arrow frog,
- poison-pen,
- poisoner,
- poisoning,
- poisonous,
- poisonously,
- poisonwood
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
poison-pen letter
A letter, usually anonymous, that makes malicious statements about the recipient or a third party. For example, She told the police about the poison-pen letters, but they said they couldn't pursue the matter. [Early 1900s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.