How to Use strychnine in a Sentence

strychnine

noun
  • Nux vomica or nuxvomica is made from the same tree that is the source of strychnine, used to poison rodents and birds.
    — Maggie Fox, NBC News, 19 Dec. 2017
  • There were reports of stimulants like cocaine and strychnine to keep competitors alert.
    — Todd Balf, Outside Online, 19 Apr. 2018
  • The second, pure strychnine slipped into a bottle of bicarbonate, did the trick.
    — Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2022
  • Another such method is setting out toxic baits—strychnine is commonly used for this purpose.
    — David Beaulieu, The Spruce, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Newspapers widely reported those words, as well as the results of an autopsy that found traces of strychnine in her blood.
    — Maia Silber, The New Yorker, 30 May 2022
  • Poison was the most effective lethal strategy; lacing a single deer carcass with strychnine could kill dozens of wolves.
    — Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022
  • The first round of strychnine, a massive dose of rat poison dissolved in a bottle of Poland Spring water, didn’t work.
    — Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2022
  • Other remedies have contained a toxic substance called strychnine, which is also used as a rat poison in higher doses.
    — Michael Nedelman, CNN, 19 Dec. 2017
  • The ladies offer each new guest some homemade elderberry wine whose secret ingredients – arsenic, strychnine and cyanide – have a lethal kick.
    — Orange County Register, 15 Feb. 2017
  • And a case of strychnine poisoning that was somehow fudged into death by natural causes to prevent a scandal and keep Stanford running.
    — Mark Peikert, Town & Country, 12 June 2022
  • Nature describing the synthesis of strychnine using only 12 steps.
    — Joshua Learn, Discover Magazine, 27 Oct. 2021
  • The Eberle brothers had dynamite for blowing up railroad bridges, and strychnine to poison the food and water that rebel wives would offer to investigating lawmen.
    — Trevor Paulhus, Smithsonian, 19 Sep. 2019
  • At the time, friends and the public assumed the scientist had used strychnine to commit suicide, but Kennicott’s family didn’t believe this explanation.
    — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 21 June 2017
  • This had been the choice of Sá-Carneiro, who put on his best suit and swallowed strychnine in a Paris hotel in 1916, depriving Pessoa of his best friend.
    — Benjamin Kunkel, Harper's Magazine, 26 Oct. 2021
  • Other dangerous ingredients used in homeopathy products include nux vomica, which contains strychnine.
    — Maria Clark, NOLA.com, 20 Dec. 2017
  • Much of Christie’s unwaning appeal relies on incongruity—maleficence emerging in the most genteel of contexts, like strychnine in the tea—whereas the Thrombeys make no pretense of decency.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2019
  • Taking stimulants was an accepted practice when Thomas Hicks won the 1904 Olympic marathon race — and almost died — after a mixture of brandy and strychnine got him to the finish line.
    — Grant Clark and Henry Meyer | Bloomberg, Washington Post, 9 Dec. 2019
  • Condors vanished from the state’s North Coast after the arrival of European settlers, who killed other animals with lead bullets and strychnine — poisoning the raptors that feed on carrion.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
  • No autopsy was conducted, and relatives later told authorities his symptoms resembled poisoning by strychnine, a powerful and deadly toxin.
    — Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Meanwhile the Eberle brothers were recruiting their relatives to the WCU, urging people not to register for the draft, and stashing ammunition, strychnine and dynamite.
    — Trevor Paulhus, Smithsonian, 19 Sep. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'strychnine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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