as in poisoned
containing or contaminated with a substance capable of injuring or killing a living thing
some evil person was leaving out poisonous meat for neighborhood dogs to eat
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Recent Examples of poisonous
The bacteria survived, protected and fed by the fungus—and the fungus scored a poisonous partner.
—
Molly Herring, WIRED, 26 Jan. 2025
Ignoring other nurses who warned her to make a new vaccine mixture, Te’o administered another shot from the poisonous batch.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 24 Jan. 2025
Seven-percent mortgages have been poisonous to homebuilders, and Horton was down 26% in the fourth quarter – in a rising market, at that.
—John Dorfman, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Social platforms are poised to become even more poisonous to their own users as a handful of outrageously rich and powerful men grapple with their own insecurities around masculinity and free speech.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for poisonous 
Molly Herring, WIRED, 26 Jan. 2025
Ignoring other nurses who warned her to make a new vaccine mixture, Te’o administered another shot from the poisonous batch.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 24 Jan. 2025
Seven-percent mortgages have been poisonous to homebuilders, and Horton was down 26% in the fourth quarter – in a rising market, at that.
—John Dorfman, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Social platforms are poised to become even more poisonous to their own users as a handful of outrageously rich and powerful men grapple with their own insecurities around masculinity and free speech.
—Megan Farokhmanesh, WIRED, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for poisonous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poisonous
Adjective
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Behavior and reproduction Most frogs are nocturnal, but not poison frogs.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
28 Feb. 2020
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Some farmers even intentionally poison cranes to stop them from foraging in their crops.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
10 Feb. 2020
Adjective
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The lasting scars on the Gaza landscape are plain to see in the more than 360,000 structures − homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and other buildings − that lie in a vast expanse of toxic rubble.—
Stephen J. Beard,
USA TODAY,
11 Feb. 2025
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Of the three, agentic narcissism is the most recognizable—and toxic.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
TIME,
10 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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But to have this many venomous snakes, no one's come across it.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
7 Feb. 2025
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Red-bellied black snakes are a kind of venomous snake, and the females are known to congregate to give birth, said Kerewaro.—
Jack Guy,
CNN,
6 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near poisonous
Cite this Entry
“Poisonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poisonous. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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