poison

1 of 3

noun

poi·son ˈpȯi-zᵊn

Synonyms of poison next

: a substance that through its chemical action usually kills, injures, or impairs an organism

b(1)

: something destructive or harmful

(2)

: an object of aversion or abhorrence

: a substance that inhibits the activity of another substance or the course of a reaction or process

a catalyst poison

poison

2 of 3

verb

poisoned; poisoning ˈpȯiz-niŋ

ˈpȯi-zᵊn-iŋ

transitive verb

: to injure or kill with poison

: to treat, taint, or impregnate with or as if with poison

: to exert a baneful influence on : corrupt

poisoned their minds

: to inhibit the activity, course, or occurrence of

on the night when he poisoned my rest—

Charles Dickens

poisoner

ˈpȯiz-nər

ˈpȯi-zᵊn-ər

noun

poison

3 of 3

adjective

: poisonous, venomous

a poison plant

a poison tongue

: impregnated with poison : poisoned

a poison arrow

Example Sentences

Noun a jar of rat poison The killer gave her victims food laced with poison. suck poison from a snake bite The villain in the play dies by drinking a vial of poison. Poverty is a poison to society. Verb How did the murderer poison the victim? Hundreds were poisoned from drinking the contaminated water. He was poisoned with cyanide. The factory poisoned the air with its fumes. Illegal dumping of waste is poisoning the stream and killing fish. He poisoned their minds with hatred for her. His angry outburst poisoned the atmosphere of the party. Adjective the witch gave Snow White a poison apple See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Billions of puppets with poison minds… and there are no treatments for this, no preventatives. —

James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Jan. 2023 One of the old contemplative cliches is that holding a grudge is like taking poison and hoping the other person dies. —

Marty Munson, Men's Health, 9 Jan. 2023 Officials said the man's home was raided, but that no poison was found. —

Justin Klawans, The Week, 8 Jan. 2023 The metals and toxic substances can leach into water and soil and poison both wildlife and humans. —

The Arizona Republic, 21 Apr. 2023 The poison can kill even monstrous-sized roaches, and kills their eggs, too. —

Kat De Naoum, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Apr. 2023 If wine is your poison of choice, then look for places with corkage, which is different to B.Y.O.B. —

Clare Finney, Vogue, 29 Mar. 2023 Cancel culture is the poison to those in power that have benefited from unchecked free speech. —

Ernest Owens, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2023 The playground area and buildings were also confirmed to have no presence of poisons or toxins. —

Rebecca Griesbach | Rgriesbach@al.com, al, 26 Jan. 2023

Verb

Eric Richins, according to the records, suspected his wife had tried to poison him on multiple occasions. —

Andrew Blankstein, NBC News, 11 May 2023 The month prior to his death, on Valentine's Day in 2022, Eric Richins suspected his wife was trying to poison him, a warrant for her arrest states. —

Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 11 May 2023 Kouri Richins, 33, was arrested Monday and is accused in charging documents of poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in Kamas, a small mountain town near Park City. —

Sam Metz, Fortune, 9 May 2023 She has been charged with her husband’s murder, accused of poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl. —

Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 9 May 2023 Kara-Murza, who was the victim of poisoning attacks in Russia in 2015 and 2017, has lost 48 pounds since he was arrested near his home last April and imprisoned in pretrial detention. —

Robyn Dixon, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Apr. 2023 California An Irvine doctor feared his dermatologist wife was poisoning him. —

Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2023 Meanwhile, here in the sports media world, local TV, radio, and sports websites, including BostonGlobe.com and Boston.com, are poisoned with the stuff. —

Dan Shaughnessy, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Mar. 2023 The process of winning over two senators from some of the country’s most sparsely populated states could poison the Democratic Party for a generation of voters already battered by a recession and student debt—on top of a climate crisis already fueling disasters in their own backyards. —

Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 17 Mar. 2023

Adjective

Behavior and reproduction Most frogs are nocturnal, but not poison frogs. —

National Geographic, 28 Feb. 2020 Some farmers even intentionally poison cranes to stop them from foraging in their crops. —

National Geographic, 10 Feb. 2020 Field biologist Andrius Pašukonis, who researches poison frog homing behavior in the wild and was not involved in this study, is excited about the results and hopes to see more work done on these and other species. —

Geetha Iyer, National Geographic, 25 July 2019 Ken said, battling through the foliage before realizing most of it was poison ivy. —

Elisabeth Egan, chicagotribune.com, 10 June 2017 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'poison.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French poisun drink, potion, poison, from Latin potion-, potio drink — more at potion

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of poison was in the 13th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Poison.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poison. Accessed 29 May. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

poison

1 of 3 noun

poi·son ˈpȯiz-ən

: a substance that by its chemical action can kill or injure a living thing

: something destructive or harmful

poison

2 of 3 verb

poisoned; poisoning ˈpȯiz-niŋ

-ᵊn-iŋ

: to injure or kill with poison

: to put poison in or on

poisoned the air with its fumes

: to exert a harmful influence on : corrupt

poisoned their minds

poisoner

ˈpȯiz-nər

-ᵊn-ər

noun

poison

3 of 3 adjective

: poisonous

a poison plant

Etymology

Noun

Middle English poison "poison, a poisonous drink," from early French poison "drink, potion, poison," from Latin potion-, potio "a drink, potion" — related to potion