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# poison

«poison» in Mova's school dictionary: **A substance that can make you very ill or kill you if you…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (poison — uncountable; poisons — kinds); verb (poison, poisons, poisoned, poisoning)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A substance that can make you very ill or kill you if you swallow, breathe in or touch it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#m1)

2) Verb: to harm or kill someone with poison, or to put poison in something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#m2)

3) Something that spoils or harms: «Gossip is poison to a friendship». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In safety lessons: many household things are poisons — bleach, cleaning sprays, medicines, weed killer, some plants and berries, button batteries; keep them in their containers, locked away from small children; warning symbols mark them. If someone swallows poison, tell an adult at once and call the poison help line or emergency number; don't make them sick. In science and nature: some animals use venom, some plants and mushrooms are poisonous. In stories: the poisoned apple in Snow White. Phrases: rat poison, food poisoning, poison ivy, poison control, poisonous.

### examples

- Bleach is a poison if you drink it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x1)
- Keep poisons locked away from little children. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x2)
- Some berries are poison — don't eat them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x3)
- The witch poisoned the apple. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x4)
- Food poisoning comes from bad or undercooked food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x5)
- Poison ivy gives you an itchy rash. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x6)
- Call the poison help line if someone swallows medicine by mistake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x7)
- The skull and crossbones symbol means poison. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x8)
- "We'll poison her--poison her!" shrieked the witches. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/#x9)

### note

Mostly uncountable: «some poison». Adjective: poisonous. Animals that bite or sting to inject poison are «venomous» (snakes, spiders); things that poison you when eaten or touched are «poisonous» (berries, some frogs). Never taste or sniff an unknown liquid.

### In the corpora

- [Pufferfish swallow water fast to blow up into a prickly ball, and many also have strong poison.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/90-aquarium-the-coral-reef-tank/12/)
- [Slug pellets can poison hedgehogs that eat poisoned slugs, and hedgehogs are getting rarer in Britain.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/214-hedgehogs-spines-hibernation-and-how-to-help-them/11/)
- [Venom is a poison that an animal pushes into another animal with fangs, a sting or a spine, like a tiny syringe.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/246-defences-venom-in-snakes-jellyfish-scorpions-and-the-platypus/0/)
- [Many poisonous animals do not make their poison themselves: they get it from what they eat.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/247-defences-poison-warning-colours-and-mimics/4/)
- [Some animals escape not with spikes or poison but with a trick, like a magician who makes you look the wrong way.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/249-defences-tricks-and-myths-playing-dead-dropping-tails-ink-and-ostriches/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «poison» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poison/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.