inheritance powder
English
Etymology
So called because one person might murder another to gain an inheritance.
Noun
inheritance powder (plural inheritance powders)
- (historical) Any of several poisons used for murder, but especially arsenic and, to a lesser extent, thallium.
- 2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 316:
- `Arsenic was very popular in the old days [...] Inheritance powder, they called it. Pure, deadly, white, dissolves in any weak acid.'
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.