ratsbane
(ˈrætsbeɪn)
[f. rat n.1 + bane.]
1. Rat-poison; † spec. arsenic. (Now only literary.)
| 1523 Churchw. Acc. St. Mary Hill, London (Nichols 1797) 108 For milke and rattisbane for the rats in the church. 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 41 Men cover ratts bane vnder suger or hony. 1679 Dryden Troilus & Cr. Epil. 9 As we strew rat's-bane when we vermin fear. 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 161 Endeavours were us'd..to destroy the Mice and Rats,..by laying Rats-Bane. 1820 Shelley Œd. Tyr. i. 354 Black ratsbane, which That very Rat, who..Nurtures himself on poison, dare not touch. 1877 ‘Mark Twain’ in Atlantic Monthly Dec. 723/1 What was that cat's name that eat a keg of ratsbane by mistake over at Hooper's? |
| fig. 1593 Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 293 That peece of Alchimy, that can turne the Rattes-bane of Villany into the Balme of honesty. 1633 Prynne 1st Pt. Histrio-m. iv. i. 140 Playes are Rats-bane to government of Commonweales. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas v. i. ¶15 Running in debt is ratsbane to him. |
2. Applied to certain plants (see
quots.).
| 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 583 The fruit of Chailletia toxicaria is said to be poisonous, it is called Ratsbane in Sierra Leone. 1886 W. Som. Word-bk., Rat's Bane, chervil. A common wild umbelliferous plant, in appearance something like hemlock—probably mistaken for it. |
Hence
ˈratsbaned ppl. a., poisoned with ratsbane; also
ˈratsbany a.| 1638 R. Junius (Younge) Drunkards Character 269 Which makes them like ratsband Rats, drinke and vent. 1937 Blunden Elegy 24 And sets pot to mouth And once again moistens his ratsbany drouth. |