ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Poison

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈpɔɪ.zən/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Poison is a noun meaning A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.

Meaning

A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.

More Meanings

  1. (figuratively) Anything harmful to a person or thing.
  2. (informal, idiomatic) An alcoholic drink. (Mainly in the phrases "name your poison" and "what's your poison?")
  3. (chemistry) Any substance that inhibits catalytic activity.
  4. (transitive) To use poison to kill or paralyse (somebody).
  5. (transitive) To pollute; to cause to become poisonous.
  6. (transitive) To cause to become much worse.
  7. (transitive) To cause (someone) to hate or to have unfair negative opinions.

Example Sentences

Near-synonym: (loosely) venom
Gossip is a malicious poison.
The assassin poisoned the king.
We used a poison to kill the weeds.

Word Forms

Synonyms for poison

Depending on context, synonyms include atter, bane, contaminant, pollutant, toxin, contaminate.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include envenom, poisonous, venom, toxicant, toxicological, toxic.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.