Hypertext Webster Gateway: "venomous"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Venomous \Ven"om*ous\, a. [OE. venemous, venimous, F. venimeux,
L. venenosus, fr. venenum poison. See {Venom}, and cf.
{Venenose}.]
1. Full of venom; noxious to animal life; poisonous; as, the
bite of a serpent may be venomous.
2. (Zo["o]l.) Having a poison gland or glands for the
secretion of venom, as certain serpents and insects.
3. Noxious; mischievous; malignant; spiteful; as, a venomous
progeny; a venomous writer.
{Venomous snake} (Zo["o]l.), any serpent which has poison
glands and fangs, whether dangerous to man or not. These
serpents constitute two tribes, the viperine serpents, or
Solenoglypha, and the cobralike serpents, or
Proteroglypha. The former have perforated, erectile fangs
situated in the front part of the upper jaw, and are
without ordinary teeth behind the fangs; the latter have
permanently erect and grooved fangs, with ordinary
maxillary teeth behind them. -- {Ven"om*ous*ly}, adv. --
{Ven"om*ous*ness}, n.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
venomous
adj 1: extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom; "venomous
snakes"; "a virulent insect bite" [syn: {deadly}, {virulent}]
2: harsh or corrosive in tone; "an acerbic tone piercing
otherwise flowery prose"; "a barrage of acid comments";
"her acrid remarks make her many enemies"; "bitter words";
"blistering criticism"; "caustic jokes about political
assassination, talk-show hosts and medical ethics"; "a
sulfurous denunciation" [syn: {acerb}, {acerbic}, {acid},
{acrid}, {bitter}, {blistering}, {caustic}, {sulfurous}, {sulphurous},
{virulent}, {vitriolic}]
3: marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful; "a malevolent
lie"; "poisonous hate...in his eyes"- Ernest Hemingway;
"venomous criticism"; "vicious gossip" [syn: {poisonous},
{vicious}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.