Definition: Poison
Etymology
From Middle English poisoun, poyson, poysone, puyson, puisun, from Old French poison, from Latin pōtio, pōtiōnis (“drink, a draught, a poisonous draught, a potion”), from pōtō (“I drink”).
Noun
poison (countable and uncountable, plural poisons)
- A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism.
- We used a poison to kill the weeds.
- Something that harms a person or thing.
- Gossip is a malicious poison.
- (idiomatic) A drink; liquor. (note: this sense is chiefly encountered in the phrases "name your poison" and "what's your poison ?")
- What's your poison? I'll have a glass of whisky.
Derived terms
- poison gas
- poison hemlock
- poison ivy
- poison oak
- poison pen
- poison pill
- poison sumac
- poisoner
- poisoning
- poisonous
- poisonwood
- rat poison
- what's your poison
Verb
poison (third-person singular simple present poisons, present participle poisoning, simple past and past participle poisoned)
- (transitive) To use poison to kill or paralyze (somebody).
- The assassin poisoned the king.
- (transitive) To pollute; to cause to become poisonous.
- (transitive) To cause to become bad or unpleasant.
- Suspicion will poison their relationship.
- He poisoned the mood in the room with his non-stop criticism.
- (transitive) To cause (someone) to hate or to have unfair negative opinions.
- She poisoned him against all his old friends.
Credits
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