ratsbane

[rats-beyn]

noun

1. rat poison.

2. the trioxide of arsenic.

ratsbane

/ ˈrætsˌbeɪn /

noun

1. rat poison, esp arsenic oxide

Word History and Origins

Origin of ratsbane¹

First recorded in 1515–25; rat + 's ¹ + bane

Example Sentences

There are the usual conjectures about what it can be, the usual suspicion that there is a Spanish spy among us who is slipping ratsbane into our food and drink.

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Oh! when I remember that, while I sit here in comfort, perhaps my poor boy lies dead in some savage place: and all along of that girl: there, her very name is ratsbane to me.

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I counselled him either to give or take an ounce of ratsbane, to cure his mind.

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"Poison!" echoed the farmer's daughters, recollecting with horror the ratsbane which Lion, the old house-dog, had got at the day before, and after eating which she had seen him drop down dead in convulsions.

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They are hyphenated unless very common, in which case they are closed up; crane’s-bill, ratsbane.

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