poison pill

[ poi-zuhn pil ]

/ ˈpɔɪ zən ˌpɪl /

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noun

Also called su·i·cide pill . a pellet or capsule of a quick-acting poison, as cyanide, for a spy to ingest when faced with capture or torture.

Financial Slang. any of various business devices created to prevent a company from being taken over by another, as issuing a new class of stock or stock warrants that would become costly to the buyer in the event of a takeover.

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Origin of poison pill

First recorded in 1945–50

Words nearby poison pill

poison ivy, poison oak, poisonous, poison-pen, poison-pen letter, poison pill, poison sumac, poison sumach, poisonwood, Poisson, Poisson distribution

How to use poison pill in a sentence

This led them to resort to a poison pill, which could be immediately effective.
A drugmaker’s COVID-19 vaccine is 78% effective—but can it escape its spotty corporate history?|Grady McGregor|January 8, 2021|Fortune
Leapolitan responded by saying, “hopefully youll [sic] bite into a poison apple.”
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
For Randy, a 50-year-old ex-Mormon gay man, this cure was a particularly bitter pill to swallow.
Your Husband Is Definitely Gay: TLC’s Painful Portrait of Mormonism|Samantha Allen|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And some members of the Lizard Squad are now claiming that they were never trying to poison the network.
The Attack on the Hidden Internet|Marc Rogers|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Infernal, it can cause fires and explosions; toxic, it can debilitate, poison, and kill.
The Fiery Underground Oil Pit Eating L.A.|Geoff Manaugh|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“He gave me a blue pill, which he said was an antihistamine,” said Chelan.
Two New Bill Cosby Accusers Come Forward: ‘We Challenge Mr. Cosby to End This Nightmare’|Marlow Stern|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The tobacco plant, as is well known, produces a virulent poison known as Nicotine.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
They affirmed it was an antidote to all poison; that it expelled rheums, sour humours, and obstructions of all kinds.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
He lived in a perpetual fear and danger of discovery; and discovery now was but another name, for poison—prison—death.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
He carries a bamboo basket in which he has put a mixture containing a curious kind of poison.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
Strange perhaps to say, the suggestion of the old dowager, like instilled poison, was making its way into her very veins.
Elster's Folly|Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for poison pill

poison pill

noun

finance a tactic used by a company fearing an unwelcome takeover bid, in which the value of the company is automatically reduced, as by the sale of an issue of shares having an option unfavourable to the bidders, if the bid is successful

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