as in poisoned
containing or contaminated with a substance capable of injuring or killing a living thing
some evil person was leaving out poisonous meat for neighborhood dogs to eat
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Recent Examples of poisonous
And when that fish, in turn, succumbs to the claws of a bald eagle, its DDT dense meat becomes a poisonous lunch for an oblivious bird.
—
Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
Lee says the government is losing chemists, toxicologists, engineers and others who ensure drugs and medical devices are safe and effective and food ingredients aren't poisonous.
—Andrea Hsu, NPR, 1 Sep. 2025
After meeting a whistleblower (Taylour Paige) aiming to reveal the company’s poisonous shenanigans, Winston runs afoul of punk-band baddies who toss him and his radioactive mop into a toxic-waste pool, and the reluctant superdude becomes a popular folk hero standing up for the people who need him.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025
Others are poisonous or cause skin irritations.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poisonous
Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
Lee says the government is losing chemists, toxicologists, engineers and others who ensure drugs and medical devices are safe and effective and food ingredients aren't poisonous.
—Andrea Hsu, NPR, 1 Sep. 2025
After meeting a whistleblower (Taylour Paige) aiming to reveal the company’s poisonous shenanigans, Winston runs afoul of punk-band baddies who toss him and his radioactive mop into a toxic-waste pool, and the reluctant superdude becomes a popular folk hero standing up for the people who need him.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025
Others are poisonous or cause skin irritations.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poisonous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poisonous
Adjective
-
Constant procedural upheaval and backlogs are poison.—
Scott White,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Behavior and reproduction Most frogs are nocturnal, but not poison frogs.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
28 Feb. 2020
Adjective
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Wilson and Webbon told USA TODAY that scripture provides safeguards against toxic behavior.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA Today,
9 Sep. 2025
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An alkaline compound, baking soda is a non-toxic cleaner with a coarseness that works wonders for scrubbing grime, removing difficult stains, and deodorizing stinky odors.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Kentucky is home to various types of venomous snakes and spiders, but there's another pest in the commonwealth that's considered the most deadly animal in the world, despite its small size.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
15 Sep. 2025
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All sides, though, seem to converge around a dark view that the country is too divided, the rhetoric too venomous and the violence too frequent to sustain the American experiment unless something happens to ease partisan hostilities and bring the sides together.—
Mike Lillis,
The Hill,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Poisonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poisonous. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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