strychnine

noun

Etymology: From French strychnine, from Greek στρύχνος (strýchnos, “sleepy nightshade”) (or directly from Ancient Greek στρύχνον (strúkhnon)) + -ine.

1. A very toxic, colorless crystalline alkaloid, derived from nux vomica, used as a pesticide.

   “Only don’t say I didn’t warn you if he burns Green Gables down or puts strychnine in the well—I heard of a case over in New Brunswick where an orphan asylum child did that and the whole family died in fearful agonies.”

   “[…] strychnine is a fairly rapid drug in its action. The symptoms appear from one to two hours after it has been swallowed.”