upas

noun

ˈyü-pəs 

1

: a tall tropical Asian tree (Antiaris toxicaria) of the mulberry family with a latex that contains poisonous glycosides used as an arrow poison

also : a poisonous concentrate of the juice or latex of a upas

2

: a poisonous or harmful influence or institution

Examples of upas in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The deadly upas, root and branch, leaf and fibre, body and sap, must be utterly destroyed. — Frederick Douglass, The Atlantic, 16 Aug. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Indonesian Malay pohon upas poison tree

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined at sense 1