Venom Meaning
/ˈvɛnəm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn animal toxin intended for defensive or offensive use; a biological poison delivered by bite, sting, etc., to protect an animal or to kill its prey.
nounFeeling or speech marked by spite or malice; vitriol.
Sentence Examples
There is no antidote for the venom of this snake.
The venom clamours of a jealous woman poison more deadly than a mad dog’s tooth.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The poisonous snake's bite injected a powerful ____ that quickly paralyzed the small animal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The snake's ____ is highly toxic and it can cause regular several paralysis if it is not treated immediately today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English venym, from Old French venim, from Vulgar Latin *venīmen, from Early Medieval Latin venīnum, from Classical Latin venēnum (“drug; poison; a charm”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to love”). Doublet of venin and venene.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] There may be in the cup / A spider steep’d, and one may drink, depart, / And yet partake no venom, for his knowledge / Is not infected..."
— c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
"And from the Boughs brush off the evil dew, / And heal the harms of thwarting thunder blew, / Or what the cross dire-looking Planet smites, / Or hurtfull Worm with canker’d venom bites […]"
— 1634, John Milton, “Arcades”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 54:
"I will watch with the wiliness of a snake, that I may sting with its venom."
— 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter XX, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:
"The venom of such looks, we fairly hope, / Have lost their quality, and that this day / Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love."
— 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
"[…] as I was feasting my jaundiced eye one morning with a certain newspaper, which I was in the habit of employing as the vehicle of my venom, I was startled at discovering myself conspicuously pointed out in an angry column as a cowardly defamer […]"
— 1790, Richard Cumberland, The Observer, volume 5, number 130, London: C. Dilly, page 48:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The poisonous snake's bite injected a powerful ____ that quickly paralyzed the small animal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The snake's ____ is highly toxic and it can cause regular several paralysis if it is not treated immediately today.