POISON, n. poiz'n. [L. pus.] 1. A substance which, when taken into the stomach,mixed with the blood or applied to the skin or flesh, proves fatal or deleterious by an action not mechanical; venom. The more active and virulent poisons destroy life in a short time; others are slow in their operation, others produce inflammation without proving fatal. In the application of poison, much depends on the quantity.2. Any thing infectious, malignant, or noxious to health; as the poison of pestilential diseases.3. That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as the poison of evil example; the poison of sin.
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