Etymology 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. See more at atter.
1
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.
2
Figuratively Anything harmful to a person or thing.
Gossip is a malicious poison.
Awaie with the Rebels ſuffer them not to ſpeake, His words are poyſon in the eares of the people, […]1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act IV:
3
Idiomatic, Informal 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
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Any substance that inhibits catalytic activity.
The temperature effect of poisons. The influence of poison on the catalyst can be different with the change of reaction conditions.2013, Huazhang Liu, Ammonia Synthesis Catalysts: Innovation and Practice, page 693:
Etymology 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. See more at atter.
1
To use poison to kill or paralyse (somebody).
The assassin poisoned the king.
2
To pollute; to cause to become poisonous.
That factory is poisoning the river.
3
To cause to become much worse.
Suspicion will poison their relationship.
He poisoned the mood in the room with his non-stop criticism.
4
To cause (someone) to hate or to have unfair negative opinions.
She's poisoned him against all his old friends.
5
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To inhibit the catalytic activity of.
6
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To place false or malicious data into (a cache, etc.) as part of an exploit.
In this technique, the hacker poisons the cache to launch malware into Web pages.2013, Ronald L. Mendell, Investigating Information-based Crimes, page 93: