poison pill

noun

Definition of poison pill

: a financial tactic or provision used by a company to make an unwanted takeover prohibitively expensive or less desirable

Examples of poison pill in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Icahn's letter noted that Schechter had voted against the poison pill. — oregonlive, 6 Aug. 2021 But Manchin's compromise added what some pundits considered a poison pill -- demanding some form of voter identification. — Keith Boykin, CNN, 21 June 2021 While in other parts of the country, Ocasio-Cortez’s support is a poison pill. — Rick Klein, Averi Harper, ABC News, 7 June 2021 However, many jurisdictions other than the U.S. have put restraints on poison pill strategies. — Frank Van Gansbeke, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2021 However, the bill includes stricter penalties for employers who hire undocumented immigrants, which would likely be a poison pill for most Democrats. — Grace Segers, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2021 The regulator also inserted a poison pill: If a negotiation fails, the tech company cannot boycott that publisher’s content. — Robert Whitehead, Time, 22 Feb. 2021 In the end, this poison pill appears to have been rendered mostly harmless, with face-saving language that prevents exact copycat programs but seems to leave room for slightly different programs that would achieve the same results. — Arkansas Online, 27 Dec. 2020 Goering committed suicide by swallowing a poison pill in his cell the night before. — The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 Nov. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'poison pill.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.