vergiften
Translation
to poison, to contaminate, to envenom
Examples
Er wollte die Ratten vergiften.
He wanted to poison the rats.
Die Fabrik vergiftet den Fluss.
The factory is poisoning the river.
Sie hat sich versehentlich vergiftet.
She accidentally poisoned herself.
Grammar Patterns
((sb./sth.)) to poison sb./sth. The factory poisons the environment.
((sich)) to poison oneself He poisoned himself with mushrooms.
Similar Words
Synonyms: contaminate, pollute; Antonyms: to heal, to detoxify
Etymology
Composed of the prefix 'ver-' and the noun 'Gift' (poison). It literally means 'to apply poison'.
Memory Tips
The word contains 'Gift', which means 'poison' in German. Be careful, as this is a famous false friend with the English word 'gift'.