poison

Less common meanings

7. 7
   alcoholic drinknouncolloquialidiomaticusually singular

   An alcoholic drink, used playfully when inviting someone to choose what they want to drink.

   He leaned on the bar and asked me what my poison was.

   Gin is her poison, though she'll take wine in a pinch.

   UsageMostly in What's your poison? and Name your poison, said when offering someone a drink.

   Similartipple, drink

   Note

   The humor has an old echo, since the deadly sense began as a Latin word for a drink. It lives mostly in fixed phrases such as name your poison and what's your poison, said by a host or bartender.

8. 8
   computer attackverbtransitive

   To insert false or malicious data into a cache or similar store as part of an attack.

   Attackers poison the DNS cache to redirect victims to malicious servers.

   Someone had poisoned the resolver's cache with forged records.

   Note

   In security jargon, the word means corrupting a store that other systems trust. An attacker poisons a cache, routing table or similar data store with forged entries, so that later lookups return results the attacker controls. Ronald L. Mendell's Investigating Information-based Crimes (2013) describes a hacker who "poisons the cache to launch malware into Web pages." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Ronald L. Mendell wrote Investigating Information-based Crimes, published in 2013. ccthomas.com
   • The book describes a hacker using the exact quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   block reactionsverbtransitive

   To reduce or block the catalytic activity of a substance.

   Sulfur compounds poison the platinum catalyst used in the reaction.

   Trace contaminants can poison a catalyst and halt production entirely.

   Similardeactivate

   Note

   Here the object is the catalyst itself, not a living body. The result can be anything from reduced activity to a halted process. For what the impurity does at the active sites, see the catalytic noun. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Catalyst poisoning can cause partial or complete loss of catalytic activity. en.wikipedia.org
10. 10
    reaction blockernouncountable

    Any substance that reduces or blocks the activity of a catalyst.

    Engineers filter the feed gas to remove any poison before it reaches the catalyst.

    Arsenic is a notorious poison for platinum-based catalysts.

    Note

    In catalysis, a poison is whatever disables a catalyst, typically by binding tightly to its active sites. Even trace amounts can leave an effective catalyst useless. The effect is not fixed: Huazhang Liu's Ammonia Synthesis Catalysts (2013) notes that a poison's influence on the catalyst changes with reaction conditions. The chemical verb names the same process from the other side. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Catalyst poisons can deactivate catalysts by bonding to their active sites. en.wikipedia.org
    • Trace quantities of poisons can severely impair catalytic activity. onlinelibrary.wiley.com
    • Huazhang Liu wrote Ammonia Synthesis Catalysts: Innovation and Practice. toc.library.ethz.ch
    • Liu's book states that a poison's influence changes with reaction conditions. en.wiktionary.org