poison
[noun]
Synonyms:
- toxin, bane, venom
[verb]
Synonyms:
- murder, give (someone) poison, kill
- contaminate, infect, pollute
- corrupt, defile, deprave, pervert, subvert, taint, undermine, warp

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Antonyms: antidote
Contrasted words: catholicon, elixir, panacea
Related Words: adulteration, contamination, corruption, sophistication

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English Thesaurus: bitter, sharp, sour, acidic, tangy, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. poi‧son¹ /ˈpɔɪzən/ noun
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: 'drink, poisonous drink, poison', from Latin potio; ⇒ potion]

1. [uncountable and countable] a substance that can cause death or serious illness if you eat it, drink it etc:
Belladonna and red arsenic are deadly poisons.
a box of rat poison (=poison to kill rats)
He swallowed some type of poison.

2. [countable] something such as an emotion or idea that makes you behave badly or become very unhappy:
Hatred is a poison that will destroy your life.

3. what’s your poison? old-fashioned spoken a humorous way of asking which alcoholic drink someone would like
⇒ one man’s meat is another man’s poison at meat(4)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. poison² verb [transitive]

1. to give someone poison, especially by adding it to their food or drink, in order to harm or kill them:
She was accused in 1974 of poisoning her second husband, Charles.
He killed several people by poisoning their tea.
poison somebody with something
Helms attempted to poison his whole family with strychnine.

2. if a substance poisons someone, it makes them sick or kills them:
Thousands of children were poisoned by radiation.

3. to make land, rivers, air etc dirty and dangerous, especially by the use of harmful chemicals:
Pesticides are poisoning our rivers.

4. to have very harmful and unpleasant effects on someone’s mind, emotions, or a situation:
Her childhood had been poisoned by an abusive stepfather.
The law will only serve to poison relations between the US and Mexico.
Television violence is poisoning the minds of young people.

5. poisoned chalice an important job that someone is given, which is likely to cause them a lot of trouble
—poisoner noun [countable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

poison
noun
ADJ. strong, virulent | deadly | nerve, rat
QUANT. trace
VERB + POISON administer, give sb | lace sth with, put in/on She had laced his drink with poison. She had put poison in his wine.
put down (= put somewhere to kill animals) The farmer had put down some rat poison.
swallow, take
POISON + NOUN gas, pill | arrow

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

poison

take/swallow poison
He committed suicide by taking poison.
give somebody poison
She admitted two charges of giving poison to her daughter.
administer poison formal (=give it to someone)
He could not have administered the poison that had put Mark in a coma.
put poison in something
She put poison in his wine.
lace something with poison (=put poison in something)
He laced the emperor's tea with poison.
put poison down (=put it somewhere to kill an animal)
One way of getting rid of rats or mice is to put poison down.
a deadly poison
The berries contain a deadly poison.
a slow-acting/quick-acting poison
Cyanide is a very strong, quick-acting poison.
a virulent poison (=one that makes someone very ill or kills them)
Scorpions produce a virulent poison.
a dose of poison (=an amount of poison)
He had taken a massive dose of poison.
a trace of poison (=a small amount of poison that is still present somewhere)
Traces of the poison were found in the family car.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bitter having a strong sharp taste that is not sweet, like black coffee without sugar - used especially about chocolate, medicine etc:
The dessert is made with a slightly bitter chocolate.
Hops give beer its distinctive bitter taste.
The medicine tasted bitter.
As the lettuce gets older, the leaves become more bitter.
sharp having a taste that makes your tongue sting slightly:
Rhubarb has quite a sharp taste.
The cheese has a pleasing colour and a pleasantly sharp flavour.
sour having a usually unpleasant sharp acid taste, like the taste of a lemon, or a fruit that is not ready to be eaten – used especially about fruit, or about liquids that have gone bad:
Some people say that the purpose of the lemon’s sour taste is to stop the fruit being eaten by animals.
Rachel sampled the wine. It was sour.
acidic very sour – used especially about liquids or things made with fruits such as oranges, lemons, or grapes:
Some fruit juices taste a bit acidic.
tangy having a taste that is pleasantly strong or sharp, and that often tastes a little sweet as well:
The ribs are cooked in a tangy barbecue sauce.
tart having a taste that lacks sweetness – used especially about fruit such as apples, which you need to add sugar to:
The pudding had rather a tart flavour.
The trees were covered with tart wild plums.
spoil to have a bad effect on something so that it is much less attractive, enjoyable etc:
New housing developments are spoiling the countryside.
The bad weather completely spoiled our holiday.
ruin to spoil something completely and permanently:
Using harsh soap to wash your face can ruin your skin.
The argument ruined the evening for me.
mar written to spoil something by making it less attractive or enjoyable:
His handsome Arab features were marred by a long scar across his face.
Outbreaks of fighting marred the New Year celebrations.
detract from something to slightly spoil something that is generally very good, beautiful, or impressive:
The huge number of tourists rather detracts from the city’s appeal.
There were a few minor irritations, but this did not detract from our enjoyment of the holiday.
undermine to spoil something that you have been trying to achieve:
The bombings undermined several months of careful negotiations.
poison to spoil a close relationship completely, so that people can no longer trust each other:
Their marriage was poisoned by a terrible dark secret.
mess something up informal to spoil something important or something that has been carefully planned:
If there’s any delay, it will mess up our whole schedule.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

spoil to have a bad effect on something so that it is much less attractive, enjoyable etc:
New housing developments are spoiling the countryside.
The bad weather completely spoiled our holiday.
ruin to spoil something completely and permanently:
Using harsh soap to wash your face can ruin your skin.
The argument ruined the evening for me.
mar written to spoil something by making it less attractive or enjoyable:
His handsome Arab features were marred by a long scar across his face.
Outbreaks of fighting marred the New Year celebrations.
detract from something to slightly spoil something that is generally very good, beautiful, or impressive:
The huge number of tourists rather detracts from the city’s appeal.
There were a few minor irritations, but this did not detract from our enjoyment of the holiday.
undermine to spoil something that you have been trying to achieve:
The bombings undermined several months of careful negotiations.
sour to spoil a friendly relationship between people or countries:
The affair has soured relations between the UK and Russia.
poison to spoil a close relationship completely, so that people can no longer trust each other:
Their marriage was poisoned by a terrible dark secret.
mess something up informal to spoil something important or something that has been carefully planned:
If there’s any delay, it will mess up our whole schedule.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲