Meaning & use
poison
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A substance that can seriously harm or kill a living thing if it is swallowed, breathed in, or enters the body.
Grammar: Uncountable for the general idea (rat poison) and countable for kinds (a deadly poison).
Patterns
- poison for something
The label warned that the cleaner was a poison and must be kept from children.
Farmers once used arsenic as a poison against rats.
The detective discovered traces of poison in the tea.
nounsingularfigurative
Something that gradually damages a person, relationship, or society, without being a physical chemical.
Grammar: Used figuratively, usually with a: a poison in the community.
Patterns
- a poison to something
Constant gossip became a poison in the office.
He called hatred a poison that destroys the one who feels it.
verbtransitive
To kill or harm a person or animal by giving them a toxic substance, or to contaminate food, water, or land with it.
Grammar: Takes an object: poison the well.
Patterns
- poison someone
- poison something with something
Chemical waste had poisoned the river for miles downstream.
The villain tried to poison the king's cup of wine.
Several diners were poisoned by the spoiled shellfish.
verbtransitivefigurative
To spoil something good, such as a friendship or a mood, so that it becomes bitter or unpleasant.
Grammar: Figurative use with an abstract object: poison the atmosphere.
Patterns
- poison something
- poison someone against someone
Years of arguing poisoned their friendship.
Someone had poisoned his mind against his own brother.
Word forms
| plural | poisons |
|---|---|
| third person singular | poisons |
| past tense | poisoned |
| past participle | poisoned |
| -ing form | poisoning |
Common combinations
- rat poison
- The shed shelf holds rat poison, so keep the dog out.
- deadly poison
- The frog's skin secretes a deadly poison.
- poison the well
- Smearing the witness would poison the well before the trial.
- food poisoning
- Undercooked chicken gave him food poisoning.
- poison someone's mind
- He accused the newspaper of poisoning voters' minds.
Synonyms and how they differ
- toxin
- A toxin is a poison made by a living organism, while poison also covers man-made chemicals.
- venom
- Venom is a poison injected by a bite or sting, but poison can be swallowed or absorbed.
- contaminate
- Contaminate means to make something impure and unsafe, without necessarily suggesting deadly intent as poison does.
- corrupt
- Corrupt is the usual choice for moral or ethical damage, whereas poison stresses a slow bitter spreading harm.
Opposites
Word family
- poisonous adjective
- containing poison or able to harm like poison
- poisoning noun
- illness or death caused by a toxic substance
- poisoner noun
- a person who poisons others
- poisonously adverb
- in a deadly or very spiteful way
Commonly confused: poison or venomous?
poison vs venomous
Venomous describes animals that inject venom, such as snakes. Poisonous describes things that harm you when eaten or touched, such as certain mushrooms.
Practice
Spiders that bite and inject toxin are called venomous, but a mushroom that makes you sick when eaten is called ___.
Choose one answer.
Poisonous describes something harmful when eaten or touched. Venomous is for injecting animals, 'toxinous' is not a standard word, and poisoned means someone has been given poison.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “poison”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.