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Glite Dictionary
to spit poison

to spit poison

1 7.9
Say very angry, hurtful things to someone to hurt them
  • phrasal verb
  • /spɪt ˈpɔɪzən/
  • Informal
: hablar con veneno
  • During the argument, she would not stop spitting poison at him in front of their friends.

Examples

  • When he found out she was lying, he started to spit poison with his harsh words.

  • His comments were filled with anger, as if he were ready to spit poison at anyone who disagreed.

  • BUT HE CAN SPIT...POISON.

    Yogi Bear (2010)

Synonyms

to spit
vsto spit poison
  • Informal
173 6.3

To say words quickly and angrily to show strong dislike

carries stronger malice and intentional bitterness behind words
to lash out
vsto spit poison
78 5.6

Suddenly say angry things about someone by speaking or writing

is about deliberate bitter speech rather than sudden impulsive attack
to snarl
vsto spit poison
38 5.8

To say something in an angry, sharp voice

conveys deep bitterness and malice rather than tone alone
to mouth off
vsto spit poison
  • Informal
36 8.3

To speak rudely and loudly to a person in charge

aims more at hurting with bitter malice than just rude loud talk
to talk trash
vsto spit poison
  • Offensive
18 7.5

Say insulting, bragging words to make someone angry or nervous

focuses on personal bitterness and malice rather than provocation or boasting
to eat someone's head off
vsto spit poison
  • Informal
1 9.1

To speak angrily to someone and criticize them

shows bitter malice in words rather than only loud angry reaction
to vituperate
vsto spit poison
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To criticize someone angrily using harsh words

expresses personal malice and bitterness rather than formal scolding
to speak with venom
vsto spit poison
1 7.8

Say angry, cruel things about someone

focuses more on burning anger and malice behind the words

Antonyms

to praise
381 1.0

To tell a person that you admire or approve of them

How Hostile

to vilify
39 7.9
to spit poison
  • Informal
1 7.9
insult
  • Offensive
286 1.3
to criticize
653 3.3
remark
465 1.4

Surface Forms

spit poison infinitive
spitting poison present participle
spits poison third person singular
spat poison past
spat poison past participle

Morphology

spit + poison

The meaning 'to speak with intense anger or malice' is directly derivable from combining 'spit' (to utter, often angrily) with 'poison' (something harmful); the image of 'spitting something poisonous' maps straightforwardly onto producing harmful words. This metaphorical but transparent composition is common cross-linguistically and would be understandable to an average B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

The phrase spit poison comes from the image of someone spitting out poison, as if their words were dangerous and could hurt people. That's why it means 'to speak with strong anger or malice'.