poison

poison is on the Basic English 850 List.

point - poison - polish

Pronunciation

• enPR: poi'zən, IPA ^(key): /ˈpɔɪz(ə)n/
• SAMPA: /"pOIz(@)n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

Singular poison

Plural poisons

1. (uncountable) Poison is any substance that makes people or animals sick or kills them if it gets into their body.

   He put out poison to get rid of the mice.

   Some snakes can deliver poison by biting you.

Verb

Plain form poison

Third-person singular poisons

Past tense poisoned

Past participle poisoned

Present participle poisoning

1. (transitive) If ${\displaystyle x}$ poisons ${\displaystyle y}$, ${\displaystyle x}$ puts poison in ${\displaystyle y}$.

   They poisoned the king's food.

   He poisoned the ants to get rid of them.

2. (transitive) If something poisons a person or animal, it makes them sick, or kills them chemically.

   The drugs that he used were slowly poisoning him.

3. (transitive) If something poisons someone's mind, it puts bad thoughts there.

Related words

• poisonous
• poisonless