Adjacent Words

Poison definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

POISON, n. poiz'n. [L. pus.]
1. A substance which, when taken into the stomach,mixed with the blood or applied to the skin or flesh, proves fatal or deleterious by an action not mechanical; venom. The more active and virulent poisons destroy life in a short time; others are slow in their operation, others produce inflammation without proving fatal. In the application of poison, much depends on the quantity.
2. Any thing infectious, malignant, or noxious to health; as the poison of pestilential diseases.
3. That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as the poison of evil example; the poison of sin.
POIS'ON, v.t. To infect with any thing fatal to life; as, to poison an arrow.
1. To attack, injure or kill by poison.
He was so discouraged that he poisoned himself and died. 2 Macc.
2. To taint; to mar; to impair; as, discontent poisons the happiness of life.
Hast thou not
With thy false arts poison'd his people's loyalty?
3. To corrupt. Our youth are poisoned with false notions of honor, or with pernicious maxims of government.
To suffer the thoughts to be vitiated, is to poison the fountains of morality.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any substance that causes injury or illness or death of a living organism [syn: poison, toxicant, poisonous substance]
2: anything that harms or destroys; "the poison of fascism" v
1: spoil as if by poison; "poison someone's mind"; "poison the atmosphere in the office"
2: kill with poison; "She poisoned her husband"
3: add poison to; "Her husband poisoned her drink in order to kill her" [syn: poison, envenom]
4: kill by its poison; "This mushrooms can poison"
5: administer poison to; "She poisoned her husband but he did not die"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French poisun drink, potion, poison, from Latin potion-, potio drink — more at potion Date: 13th century 1. a. 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 2. a substance that inhibits the activity of another substance or the course of a reaction or process <a catalyst poison> II. transitive verb (poisoned; poisoning) Date: 14th century 1. a. to injure or kill with poison b. to treat, taint, or impregnate with or as if with poison 2. to exert a baneful influence on ; corrupt <poisoned their minds> 3. to inhibit the activity, course, or occurrence of <on the night when he poisoned my rest — Charles Dickens> • poisoner noun III. adjective Date: circa 1520 1. poisonous, venomous <a poison plant> <a poison tongue> 2. impregnated with poison ; poisoned <a poison arrow>

Britannica Concise

Any substance (natural or synthetic) that damages living tissues and injures or kills. Poisons spontaneously produced by living organisms are often called toxins, or venoms if produced by animals. Poisons may be ingested, inhaled, injected, or absorbed through the skin. They do not always have an all-or-none effect; some are far more toxic than others (e.g., 0.25 g of potassium cyanide may kill, whereas a massive single dose of table salt can kill). Poisoning may be acute (a single dose does significant damage) or chronic (repeated or continuous doses produce an eventual effect, as with chemical carcinogens). The effects produced by poisons may be local (hives, blisters, inflammation) or systemic (hemorrhage, convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea, clouding of the senses, paralysis, respiratory or cardiac arrest). Agricultural pesticides are often poisonous to humans. Some industrial chemicals can be very toxic or carcinogenic. Most drugs and health-care products can be poisons if taken inappropriately or in excess. Most forms of radiation can be toxic (see radiation injury). See also antidote, arsenic poisoning, fish poisoning, food poisoning, lead poisoning, medicinal poisoning, mercury poisoning, mushroom poisoning.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a substance that when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism causes death or injury, esp. one that kills by rapid action even in a small quantity. 2 colloq. a harmful influence or principle etc. 3 Physics & Chem. a substance that interferes with the normal progress of a nuclear reaction, chain reaction, catalytic reaction, etc. --v.tr. 1 administer poison to (a person or animal). 2 kill or injure or infect with poison. 3 infect (air, water, etc.) with poison. 4 (esp. as poisoned adj.) treat (a weapon) with poison. 5 corrupt or pervert (a person or mind). 6 spoil or destroy (a person's pleasure etc.). 7 render (land etc.) foul and unfit for its purpose by a noxious application etc. Phrases and idioms: poison gas = GAS n. 4. poison ivy a N. American climbing plant, Rhus toxicodendron, secreting an irritant oil from its leaves. poison-pen letter an anonymous libellous or abusive letter. Derivatives: poisoner n. poisonous adj. poisonously adv. Etymology: ME f. OF poison, poisonner (as POTION)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Poison Poi"son, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poisoned; p. pr. & vb. n. Poisoning.] [Cf. OF. poisonner, F. empoissoner, L. potionare to give to drink. See Poison, n.] 1. To put poison upon or into; to infect with poison; as, to poison an arrow; to poison food or drink. ``The ingredients of our poisoned chalice.'' --Shak. 2. To injure or kill by poison; to administer poison to. If you poison us, do we not die ? --Shak. 3. To taint; to corrupt; to vitiate; as, vice poisons happiness; slander poisoned his mind. Whispering tongues can poison truth. --Coleridge.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Poison Poi"son, n. [F. poison, in Old French also, a potion, fr. L. potio a drink, draught, potion, a poisonous draught, fr. potare to drink. See Potable, and cf. Potion.] 1. Any agent which, when introduced into the animal organism, is capable of producing a morbid, noxious, or deadly effect upon it; as, morphine is a deadly poison; the poison of pestilential diseases. 2. That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as, the poison of evil example; the poison of sin. Poison ash. (Bot.) (a) A tree of the genus Amyris (A. balsamifera) found in the West Indies, from the trunk of which a black liquor distills, supposed to have poisonous qualities. (b) The poison sumac (Rhus venenata). [U. S.] Poison dogwood (Bot.), poison sumac. Poison fang (Zo["o]l.), one of the superior maxillary teeth of some species of serpents, which, besides having the cavity for the pulp, is either perforated or grooved by a longitudinal canal, at the lower end of which the duct of the poison gland terminates. See Illust. under Fang. Poison gland (Biol.), a gland, in animals or plants, which secretes an acrid or venomous matter, that is conveyed along an organ capable of inflicting a wound. Poison hemlock (Bot.), a poisonous umbelliferous plant (Conium maculatum). See Hemlock. Poison ivy (Bot.), a poisonous climbing plant (Rhus Toxicodendron) of North America. It is common on stone walls and on the trunks of trees, and has trifoliate, rhombic-ovate, variously notched leaves. Many people are poisoned by it, if they touch the leaves. See Poison sumac. Called also poison oak, and mercury. Poison nut. (Bot.) (a) Nux vomica. (b) The tree which yields this seed (Strychnos Nuxvomica). It is found on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. Poison oak (Bot.), the poison ivy; also, the more shrubby Rhus diversiloba of California and Oregon. Poison sac. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Poison gland, above. See Illust. under Fang. Poison sumac (Bot.), a poisonous shrub of the genus Rhus (R. venenata); -- also called poison ash, poison dogwood, and poison elder. It has pinnate leaves on graceful and slender common petioles, and usually grows in swampy places. Both this plant and the poison ivy (Rhus Toxicodendron) have clusters of smooth greenish white berries, while the red-fruited species of this genus are harmless. The tree (Rhus vernicifera) which yields the celebrated Japan lacquer is almost identical with the poison sumac, and is also very poisonous. The juice of the poison sumac also forms a lacquer similar to that of Japan. Syn: Venom; virus; bane; pest; malignity. Usage: Poison, Venom. Poison usually denotes something received into the system by the mouth, breath, etc. Venom is something discharged from animals and received by means of a wound, as by the bite or sting of serpents, scorpions, etc. Hence, venom specifically implies some malignity of nature or purpose.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Poison Poi"son, v. i. To act as, or convey, a poison. Tooth that poisons if it bite. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(poisons, poisoning, poisoned) 1. Poison is a substance that harms or kills people or animals if they swallow it or absorb it. Poison from the weaver fish causes paralysis, swelling, and nausea... Mercury is a known poison. N-MASS 2. If someone poisons another person, they kill the person or make them ill by giving them poison. The rumours that she had poisoned him could never be proved. VERB: V n • poisoning She was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment for poisoning and attempted murder. 3. If you are poisoned by a substance, it makes you very ill and sometimes kills you. Employees were taken to hospital yesterday after being poisoned by fumes... Toxic waste could endanger lives and poison fish. VERB: be V-ed by n, V n • poisoning His illness was initially diagnosed as food poisoning. N-UNCOUNT: supp N 4. If someone poisons a food, drink, or weapon, they add poison to it so that it can be used to kill someone. If I was your wife I would poison your coffee. VERB: V n • poisoned He was terrified to eat, suspecting that the food was poisoned. ...an umbrella tipped with a poisoned dart. ADJ 5. To poison water, air, or land means to damage it with harmful substances such as chemicals. The land has been completely poisoned by chemicals. ...dying forests, poisoned rivers and lakes. VERB: V n, V-ed 6. Something that poisons a good situation or relationship spoils it or destroys it. The whole atmosphere has really been poisoned. ...ill-feeling that will poison further talk of a common foreign policy. VERB: be V-ed, V n

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Heb. hemah, "heat," the poison of certain venomous reptiles (Deut. 32:24, 33; Job 6:4; Ps. 58:4), causing inflammation.

(2.) Heb. rosh, "a head," a poisonous plant (Deut. 29:18), growing luxuriantly (Hos. 10:4), of a bitter taste (Ps. 69:21; Lam. 3:5), and coupled with wormwood; probably the poppy. This word is rendered "gall", q.v., (Deut. 29:18; 32:33; Ps. 69:21; Jer. 8:14, etc.), "hemlock" (Hos. 10:4; Amos 6:12), and "poison" (Job 20:16), "the poison of asps," showing that the _rosh_ was not exclusively a vegetable poison.

(3.) In Rom. 3:13 (comp. Job 20:16; Ps. 140:3), James 3:8, as the rendering of the Greek ios.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

poi'-z'-n (chemah, ro'-sh; thumos, ios): Residents in Palestine must, from the first, have been acquainted with venomous serpents. Six species of these are widely diffused in the land, and at least three of them are fairly common in places. Besides, there are scorpions, centipedes and the large spider, which are as much dreaded by the fellahin as are the serpents, not to speak of the minor but very serious discomforts of mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks, some of which were credited with lethal powers. In The Wisdom of Solomon 16:9 the Revised Version (British and American) we read that "the bites of locusts and flies did slay, and there was not found a healing for their life." There are also many poisonous plants, such as belladonna, henbane, thorn apple, and the opium poppy. None of these is mentioned in the Bible; the only names found there are the hemlock (Conium maculatum) of Ho 10:4, the poisonous gourd (Citrullus colocynthis) of 2Ki 4:39, and the grapes of gall, probably the fruit of Calotropis procera, the apples of Sodom of Josephus (BJ, IV, viii, 4). Some, however, believe that these are poppyheads. Poisonous waters are referred to at Marah (Ex 15:23) and Jericho (2Ki 2:19). There are no direct records of any person dying of poison except in 2 Macc 10:13, where the suicide of Ptolemy Macron is related. our Lord's promise in the appendix to Mr 16:18 shows, however, that poisons were known and might be administered by way of ordeal, as was the unknown "water of jealousy" (Nu 5:17). In this connection the story in Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, 39) is interesting, that "Justus surnamed Barsabbas, though he drank a deadly poison, suffered no injury, through the grace of the Lord." The passages in which poisonous serpents are mentioned are De 32:24, where serpents (the Revised Version (British and American) "crawling things") of the dust, probably Cerastes hasselquistii, the little horned vipers, are mentioned, and in De 32:33: "poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps." The asp may be the cobra Naia haje, not uncommon on the borders of the wilderness to the South. Ps 58:4 mentions the poison of serpents. Ps 140:3, "They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips," indicates, what is still a common belief, that the forked tongue of the snake is the poison-bearer. This is referred to in Jas 3:8. That it was the fang and not the tongue which carried the poison was known to Pliny (xi.62). This verse of Ps 140 is given in Paul's composite quotation in Ro 3:13. There may be a reference to the giving of an intoxicant poison in Hab 2:15, where the Revised Version (British and American) reads "that addest thy venom." The prophets speak in several places of God's wrath as a cup of trembling (the Revised Version (British and American) "staggering"), e.g. Isa 51:17,22, probably suggested by the fact that chemah primarily means "fury" and is used in that sense in more than a hundred passages. In Zec 12:2 Jerusalem is to be such a "cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about."

The semamith, "lizard" (the King James Version "spider"), mentioned in Pr 30:28 Septuagint kalabotes) was formerly regarded as poisonous and it is still much disliked by the fellahin, as they believe that it makes mocking gestures mimicking them at their prayers. They are really not poisonous. It is doubtful whether the lizard mentioned by Agur is really this stellion; the description better fits the gecko.

Alexander Macalister

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Venom, virus, bane, pest, taint, noxious influence. II. v. a. Infect, taint, contaminate, corrupt, canker, mar, impair, vitiate, envenom, pollute.

Moby Thesaurus

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