Meaning

4 senses

  1. (countable, uncountable)A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.

    Near-synonym: (loosely) venom

    We used a poison to kill the weeds.

    Gift, Giftstoff

    ядjad, отра́ваotráva

    отру́таotrúta, отру́яotrúja

    any substance that causes injury or illness or death of a living organism

  2. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)Anything harmful to a person or thing.

    Gossip is a malicious poison.

  3. (countable, idiomatic, informal, uncountable)An alcoholic drink. (Mainly in the phrases "name your poison" and "what's your poison?")

    — What's your poison? — I'll have a glass of whiskey.

  4. (countable, uncountable)Any substance that inhibits catalytic activity.

Examples

492 sentences

  1. Have you ever had food poisoning?

    У тебе колись було харчове отруєння? — deniko

    ruУ вас когда-нибудь было пищевое отравление? — afyodor

    deHatten Sie schon mal eine Lebensmittelvergiftung? — al_ex_an_der

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. He killed himself by taking poison.

    Він покінчив з собою, прийнявши отруту. — iceman

    ruОн покончил с собой, приняв яд. — loins

    deEr brachte sich mit Gift um. — Alois

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Tom drank some poison by mistake.

    Том випадково випив отрути. — deniko

    ruТом случайно выпил яду. — marafon

    deTom trank versehentlich etwas Gift. — raggione

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Someone tried to poison our dog's food.

    Хтось намагався отруїти їжу нашого собаки. — deniko

    ruКто-то пытался подложить яду в корм нашей собаке. — Lathean

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. I'm not the one who poisoned Tom.

    Це не я отруїв Тома. — deniko

    ruЯ не тот, кто отравил Тома. — alexdiment

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
substance harmful to a living organism:
Русский
By meaning 1
substance harmful to a living organism:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
substance harmful to a living organism:

Origin

From Middle English poysoun, poyson, pusoun, from Old French poison, poisun, from Latin pō

From Middle English poysoun, poyson, pusoun, from Old French poison, poisun, from Latin pōtiōnem (“drink, a draught, a poisonous draught, a potion”), from pōtō (“to drink”). See also potion and potable (from the same root). Mostly displaced native Old English ātor and lybb. See more at atter.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: poisons
Singularpoison
Pluralpoisons

regular

Synonyms

7 synonyms
pollutantB1atterbanecontaminanttoxin
Close in meaning
  • any substance that causes injury or illness or death of a living organism:toxicantpoisonous substance

Word family

72 related words
Relatedpoisonous
Derivedantipoisonarrow poisonarrow-poison frogberry poisonbox poisonbullock poisonbushman poisoncluster poisoncounterpoisoncrinkle-leaved poisoncrow poisondew poisonempoisongranite poisonheart-leaved poisonhorned poisonkite-leaved poisonmallet poisonnarrow-leaved poisonnet-leaved poisonneutron poisonnuclear poisonpoison arrowpoison ash

Lessons for this word

1 lessons

Collocations

9 patterns
  • tried to poison
  • some rat poison
  • rat poison
  • by taking poison
  • one who poisoned
  • food poisoning
  • poisoned ourselves
  • poisoned himself
  • taking poison

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
pointypoiseC1poisonousB1pokepoker

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

poison — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto