Basic Details
Word: Poisoned
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Past tense of poison: harmed or killed with poison, or made something harmful by adding a dangerous substance.
Synonyms: polluted, contaminated
Antonyms: purified
How to Spell Poisoned
Syllables: poi - soned
Tricky part: The first vowel sound is oi, and the s sounds like z. The o of poison stays before ed.
Watch out for: poisened, poisond, poysoned
Memory tip: The oi in poison is the oi of oil and coin. Keep poison whole and add ed: poison + ed.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Waste from the factory poisoned the river, and fish began to die.
Example 2: In the fairy tale, the wicked queen poisoned an apple.
Example 3: Gossip poisoned the friendship between the two neighbours.
Fun Fact
Monarch butterflies taste bitter and are poisonous to many birds, because their caterpillars feed on milkweed plants that contain toxins.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to complete the word:
p_is_ned
a) o, e
b) a, o
c) o, a
d) o, o
Show answer
d) o, o. Poison has an o on each side of the is, and both stay when ed is added.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The detective proved that the guest's tea had been dnieopos.
a) poised
b) position
c) poisoned
d) opposed
Show answer
c) poisoned. Eight letters including a d and an n: poised is too short and position has a t.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word poisoned as it is used in the sentence:
Chemicals from the dye works poisoned the village pond.
a) filled
b) crossed
c) polluted
d) cleaned
Show answer
c) polluted. Polluted water has had harmful things added to it, as the pond did here.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which adjective describes a snake whose bite contains poison?
a) vigorous
b) valuable
c) various
d) venomous
Show answer
d) venomous
2. Unkind rumours poisoned their friendship. This means the rumours ____.
a) were kept secret
b) made it stronger
c) spoiled the friendship
d) were about medicine
Show answer
c) spoiled the friendship
