and war. 3 [not before noun]
~ for sth | ~ to do sth completely ready for sth or to do sth^ytfrmgr, HEIset: The
economy is poised for recovery. O Kate
is poised to become the highest-paid
supermodel in the fashion world.
4
having a calm and confident manner and in control of your feelings and
behaviour # ; iftlf £| f|
: He is a remarkably poised
young man. life aciassured
poi son On /'poizn/ noun,
verb
m noun [C,
U] 1 a substance that causes death or harm if it is swallowed or absorbed into
the body Hl*j; ||$j; $ % : Some mushrooms contain a deadly poison.
o How did he die? Was it poison? flfeJI
0 The
dog was killed by rat poison (= poison intended to kill rats). 0
to hunt with poison arrows $3 # m o bombs
containing poison gas $ ^ # 2 an idea, a
feeling, etc. that is extremely harmful iffWSI ( ) ;
fit ##25: the poison of racial hatred #SjS0iH&#lFA l$S$l ITiTJl what’s your 'poison? (informal, humorous) used to ask sb what
alcoholic drink they would like ( ) —
more at man n.
■
verb [VN] 1 ~ sb (with sth) to
harm or kill a person or an animal by giving them poison Hi ?E ; if 2 to put poison in
or on sth T % ;
fE ■ • • 4* M H : a poisoned arrow o Someone had been poisoning
his food. A A — AAflfefKlA^llTiio 0 Large sections of the river
have been poisoned by toxic waste from factories. IfM 3 to have a bad
effect on sth fjgffc; ffSft: His comment served
only to poison the atmosphere still further. ftfe&fjif
ifeHA ff H M II fJP K ft o 0 She succeeded in poisoning their minds against me. H £tfe A fife f[] m
H (ft . 1171771 a
poisoned
'chalice (especially
BrE) a
thing which seems attractive when it is given to sb but which soon becomes
unpleasant fp® poi son er /'paizana(r)/ noun a person who murders sb
by using poison &UAAA; ||£EgiJAlftA poi son ing /'poizanir)/ noun [U, C] 1 the fact or state of
having swallowed or absorbed poison 4* #; H : a series of deaths caused by carbon
monoxide poisoning — + 0
At
least 10 000 children
are involved in accidental poisonings every
year. #
^ M 'J» A 1 Jrj £ JL S jit 4* H o 2
the act of killing or harming sb/sth by giving them poison % HF; Hi A; jg H: The police suspected
poisoning.
WAffilAATlio
0
The rats were controlled by poisoning, H A ff ^ SI 8J H M o — see also blood
poisoning, food
POISONING
,poison 'ivy noun [U] a N American
climbing plant that causes painful spots on the skin when you touch it
#-£#!£, nmmm (>
,poison 'oak noun [u] a N American bush
that causes painful spots on the skin when you touch it , $
m (mrTim, )
poi son ous On /'poizanas/ adj.
1
causing death or illness if swallowed or
absorbed
into the body 3I ft3
H (ft ; f $ W cm toxic : poisonous chemicals/plants A H ft ^ M / tA#7 0 This gas is highly
poisonous. 0 The leaves of
certain trees are poisonous to cattle.
2
(of animals and insects producing
a poison that can cause
death or illness if the animal or insect bites you % M # ff W ; fg % ft A ft) cm venomous : poisonous snakes H 3 extremely
unpleasant or unfriendly (fifeAA#
) (ft; JK
ift (ft; (ft: the poisonous atmosphere in
the office fy
.poison
'pen letter noun an unpleasant letter which is not signed
and is intended to upset the person who receives it &
AJ&jS&ftj g £ E £%i#fi
.poison
'pill noun
{informal, business j§f) a form of defence
used by a company to prevent, or to reduce the effect of, a takeover bid that they do not want, for
example by selling some of their important possessions
1529 polar
) mmm
poke /pauk; NAmE pouk/ verb, noun mverb 1 [VN] ~ sb/sth (with sth) to
quickly push your fingers or another object into sb/sth (
elbow into his ribs. 0 Tm sick of
being poked and prodded by doctors.
A±Sctt£w&ffto O She got up and poked the fire (= to make it burn more
strongly). M^A^cT^Ao 2[VN +adv./prep.] to push sth somewhere
or move it in a particular direction with a small quick movement ft; ffi; Sc; U -. He poked his head
around the corner to check that nobody was coming. ftfe/Aff ft} !&.& £B A A, A IfA'&AAiiAc, 0 Someone had poked a message
under the door. A AAUI/f&TlIiST —0 Don’t poke her eye out
with that stick! j}i] it SP fi W Bg!
3
[V +adv./prep.] if an object is
poking out of, through, etc. sth, you can see a part of it that is no longer
covered by sth else M uB; ft tB; fcB: The end of the cable was
left poking out of the wall.
ATo
0 Clumps
of grass poked up through the snow. — MlBc 4 [VN +adv./prep.] ~ a hole in sth (with
sth) to make a hole in sth by pushing your finger or another object into it
fiHH; flM:
The kids poked holes in the ice with sticks. A ± Sc P <>
5 [VN]
{taboo,
slang)
(of a man A) to have sex with sb % ( ^ A ) fT>T77l poke 'fun at sb/sth to say unkind things
about sb/sth in order to make other people laugh at them $: ■ ■■ ff'L'; "I]# cm ridicule :
Her novels poke fun at the upper class. M1$ Il$!
# J: —more at nose n. IJ!l:Vi poke a'bout/ a'round {informal) to look for sth,
especially sth that is hidden among other things that you have to move If A; IS
$: The
police spent the day poking around in his office but found nothing.
m, f! j§ A % M ft /A If U o 0 {figurative) We’ve had
journalists poking around and asking a lot of questions.
fn itifi# it W fn] T A# I"] jS o poke at sth to push a
pointed object, your finger,
etc. at sth repeatedly with small quick movements ( ) M,
Sc,
fl: He
poked at the spaghetti with a fork, XT
unoun 1 [C, usually sing.] the action of quickly
pushing your fingers or another object into sb/sth jf; Sc; ffc;
to give the fire a poke ^A 0 He gave me a poke in the
ribs to wake me up. fife fl T — T IS
ftfJ flfj pP fE S BH 0IO 2 [U] (BrE) power in a car ( HT-W ) 4A, fiift fl: I prefer something with a
bit more poke. ^ s, i)S/:SWo rm have a .poke a'round (informal) to look carefully
around a place to see what you can find; to try to find out information about
sb/sth fF ;
Mfl; flU take a 'poke at sb/sth {old-fashioned, NAmE, informal) to make an unkind
remark about sb/sth; to laugh at sb/sth nfj#; —
more at pig n.
poker /'paoka(r); NAmE 'pou-/ noun 1 [U] a card game for
two or more people, in which the players bet on the values of the cards they
hold f h A fif 'iff A 2 [C] a metal stick for
moving or breaking up coal in a fire i§ &; Wi AH — picture o fireplace
'poker-faced adj. {informal) with an expression on
your face that does not show what you are thinking or feeling A A ^ 'If ► ' poker face noun ■.
He maintained a poker face, fife—AffiAA'If „ poky /'pauki; NAmE ‘pooki/ adj. {informal) 1 (of a room or a building
M T M ^ #j) too small; without much
space ^ ^ /Jn
HT1 cramped : a poky little
room 2 (also pokey) (both NAmE) extremely
slow and annoying 3&A#; ffiMEW
pol /pDl; NAmE pa:l/ noun {NAmE, informal) = politician
M, HmtAiiJmijg'if )
polar /'paula(r); NAmE ‘pou-/ adj. [only
before noun] 1
connected with, or near the North or South Pole ®