VENOM

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does venom mean? 

• VENOM (noun)
  The noun VENOM has 2 senses:

1. toxin secreted by animals; secreted by certain snakes and poisonous insects (e.g., spiders and scorpions)

2. feeling a need to see others suffer

  Familiarity information: VENOM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VENOM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Toxin secreted by animals; secreted by certain snakes and poisonous insects (e.g., spiders and scorpions)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("venom" is a kind of...):

animal toxin; zootoxin (a toxin resembling bacterial toxins in its antigenic properties that is found in the fluids of certain animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "venom"):

kokoi venom (a potent neurotoxin found in a particular frog)

snake venom (venom secreted by certain snakes)

Derivation:

venomous (extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Feeling a need to see others suffer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

malice; maliciousness; spite; spitefulness; venom

Hypernyms ("venom" is a kind of...):

malevolence; malignity (wishing evil to others)

Derivation:

venomous (marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful)

 Context examples 

They say it also points to a fundamental shift toward more rapid venom delivery mechanisms to exert very different pressures on the local fauna.

(Researchers find oldest fossil evidence of modern African venomous snakes, NSF)

Additionally, there are intraspecies differences in venom composition and activity, depending on location and other factors.

(‘India needs region-specific snakebite antivenoms’, SciDev.Net)

Chlorotoxin comes from the venom of a type of scorpion.

(Chlorotoxin, NCI Dictionary)

CTX comes from the venom of a type of scorpion.

(CTX, NCI Dictionary)

I will watch with the wiliness of a snake, that I may sting with its venom.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A relative measurement (ratio or percentage) of the dilute Russell's viper venom time in a subject sample to a control sample.

(Dilute Russell's Viper Venom Time to Control Ratio Measurement, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

This means people affected by snake bites turn to poor-quality, cheaper anti-venoms.

(Snakebite resolution set for Health Assembly approval, SciDev.Net)

To test the nanoparticles, the researchers mixed them with red blood cells and melittin, the main toxic component of bee venom.

(3-D gel-nanoparticle device detoxifies blood, NIH)

The venom of insects such as wasps and bees is full of compounds that can kill bacteria.

(Venom of Wasp, Bee Repurposed as Antibiotic Drug, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Who knows what venom these beasts may have in their hideous jaws?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)