to poison
Loading your saved state.
to poison
To administer a toxic substance to someone or an animal in order to harm or kill them.
Im Krimi versuchte der Mörder, sein Opfer mit einem Pilzgift zu vergiften.
In the crime novel, the murderer tried to poison his victim with a mushroom toxin.
The verb 'vergiften' (to poison) comes from the German noun 'das Gift', which means 'poison'. It is a well-known false friend of the English word 'gift' (present).
Vorsicht, diese Beeren enthalten ein starkes Gift.
Careful, these berries contain a strong poison.
The verb is made up of the prefix 'ver-' and the noun 'Gift' (poison). The prefix 'ver-' is inseparable, which means it stays attached to the verb in all sentence forms.
Er wurde beschuldigt, den Hund seines Nachbarn vergiftet zu haben.
He was accused of having poisoned his neighbor's dog.
Pay attention to the difference: 'jemanden vergiften' (to poison someone) means to give poison to another person. 'Sich vergiften' (to poison oneself) means that you yourself ingest poison, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Die Hauptfigur im Film vergiftet ihren Feind.
The main character in the film poisons her enemy.
When the substance used to poison someone or something is mentioned, German uses the preposition 'mit' followed by the dative.
Die Patienten hatten sich mit verdorbenem Fisch vergiftet.
The patients had poisoned themselves with spoiled fish.
You can recognize the figurative meaning by the fact that the object is something abstract. You do not poison a person, but rather 'die Atmosphäre' (the atmosphere), 'eine Beziehung' (a relationship), or 'die Stimmung' (the mood).
Sein ständiges Misstrauen hat die Arbeitsatmosphäre im Team vergiftet.
His constant mistrust poisoned the working atmosphere in the team.
to destroy
'zerstören' and 'vergiften' can both describe something being seriously harmed. 'zerstören' is more general and says that something is no longer usable, intact, or alive. 'vergiften' is more specific: it involves poison or harmful substances, for example in water, the environment, or food. In a figurative sense, 'vergiften' can also mean that a mood or relationship becomes worse and worse because of mistrust, hatred, or lies. In that case, it is close to 'zerstören', but 'vergiften' emphasizes the gradual negative influence.
Ständige Vorwürfe vergiften die Stimmung im Team.
Constant accusations poison the atmosphere in the team.
Die Bauarbeiten zerstören einen Teil des alten Parks.
The construction work is destroying part of the old park.