Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: 'drink, poisonous drink, poison', from Latin potio; POTION

poison

1 noun
     
Related topics: Daily Life
poi‧son1
1 [uncountable and countable]D 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)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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