poison

[ poi-zuhn ]

noun

1. a substance with an inherent property that tends to destroy life or impair health.
2. something harmful or pernicious, as to happiness or well-being:

   the poison of slander.

3. Slang. any variety of alcoholic liquor:

   Name your poison!

verb (used with object)

1. to administer poison to (a person or animal).
2. to kill or injure with or as if with poison.
3. to put poison into or upon; saturate with poison:

   to poison food.

4. to ruin, vitiate, or corrupt:

   Hatred had poisoned his mind.

   Synonyms: taint, pollute, contaminate

5. Chemistry. to destroy or diminish the activity of (a catalyst or enzyme).

adjective

1. causing poisoning; poisonous:

   a poison shrub.

poison

/ ˈpɔɪzən /

noun

1. any substance that can impair function, cause structural damage, or otherwise injure the body toxic
2. something that destroys, corrupts, etc

   the poison of fascism

3. a substance that retards a chemical reaction or destroys or inhibits the activity of a catalyst
4. a substance that absorbs neutrons in a nuclear reactor and thus slows down the reaction. It may be added deliberately or formed during fission
5. what's your poison? informal.
   what would you like to drink?

verb

1. to give poison to (a person or animal) esp with intent to kill
2. to add poison to
3. to taint or infect with or as if with poison
4. foll by against to turn (a person's mind) against

   he poisoned her mind against me

5. to retard or stop (a chemical or nuclear reaction) by the action of a poison
6. to inhibit or destroy (the activity of a catalyst) by the action of a poison

Derived Forms

• ˈpoisoner, noun

Other Words From

• poison·er noun
• poison·less adjective
• poison·less·ness noun
• outpoison verb (used with object)
• self-poison·er noun
• un·poisoned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of poison¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English puisun, from Old French, from Latin pōtiōn- (stem of pōtiō ) “drink, potion, poisonous draught.” See potion.

Word History and Origins

Origin of poison¹

C13: from Old French puison potion, from Latin pōtiō a drink, esp a poisonous one, from pōtāre to drink

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with poison , also see one man's meat is another man's poison .

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

What Trump is offering to his supporters is pretty close to pure poison — lies, grievance and division.

From Salon

"What Trump is offering his supporters is pretty close to pure poison — lies, grievance and division. But just because they voted for him doesn’t mean that his policies are going to benefit them."

From Salon

The rapper filed that complaint, he said, after allegedly discovering that Sophy “had attempted to poison my relationship with my son, including by urging him to disclose my financial records to the media as part of his attempts to pressure me into settling my divorce on unfair terms.”

From Los Angeles Times

A GP who disguised himself and injected his mother's partner with a poison in a row over an inheritance has been jailed for 31 years and five months.

From BBC

The one-two wide swings of Hinchcliffe and Girdusky passing off dehumanizing comments as jokes at a politically tense moment shows us how far down the poison path we've bumbled on the “just joking!” cart.

From Salon

Related Words

• corrupt
• debase
• destroy
• harm
• infect
• injure
• kill
• stain
• subvert
• taint
• undermine