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poison pill
noun
: a financial tactic or provision used by a company to make an unwanted takeover prohibitively expensive or less desirable
Examples of poison pill in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Fewer than 2% of companies in the S&P 500 have a poison pill in place today.
—Jeff Jacobs, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
Then there’s this poison pill at the end that the baby is probably exactly what Leland was saying: the Anti-Christ.
—Jen Chaney, Vulture, 23 Aug. 2024
Money in politics has been a poison pill for the democracy in our city.
—Destiny Torres, Orange County Register, 4 Oct. 2024
But the measure, paired with what Democrats see as a poison pill on noncitizen voting, faces headwinds in the lower chamber.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1983, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near poison pill
Cite this Entry
“Poison pill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poison%20pill. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Legal Definition
poison pill
noun
poi·son pill
: a financial tactic or provision used by a company to make an unwanted takeover prohibitively expensive or less desirable
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