Venomous or Poisonous?

[elevatethis]

Nice...exactly the clarification I was looking for!

Unfortunately, the news article I read that brought this up had the doctor referring to the snake as "poisonous".

[Shelby]

Very interesting.. that makes sense. Since eating it would cause it to be 'absorbed through the skin' same as just touching it.

[JLC]

Fortunately, I am a biologist. ;-) Venom is injected, while poison is absorbed through the skin; my impression is that while biologists make the distinction it tends to be emphasised more by medical personnel. Another difference is that venoms are necessarily biological in origin, whereas poisions may not be.

So would it be accurate to say that the term "venomous" is a subset of "poisonous?" IE: All venomous animals can be considered poisonous...but not all poisonous things can be considered venomous? All apples are fruit...but not all fruit are apples.

If this is the case, then it can be just as correct, although less precise, to call snakes "poisonous."

[ddbjdealer]

All apples are fruit...but not all fruit are apples.

Wow, Judy! That's so.... so.... profound!! lol

[daniel1983]

So would it be accurate to say that the term "venomous" is a subset of "poisonous?" IE: All venomous animals can be considered poisonous...but not all poisonous things can be considered venomous?

That is the logic that I like to use on these types of words too Judy. I agree with what you are saying.

By definition...Venom is a poison that is excreted from animals in some form or the other. Poison is any substance that can cause injury, illness or death to a living organism....the suffix -ous simply means possessing, having, containing, etc...

[xdeus]

By definition...Venom is a poison that is excreted from animals in some form or the other.

I might be wrong, but I don't believe that is the definition. (okay, so I'm also lazy for not googling it) Frogs that excrete poison from glands on their skin are considered poisonous, not venomous.

[engywook]

[QUOTE JLC]So would it be accurate to say that the term "venomous" is a subset of "poisonous?" IE: All venomous animals can be considered poisonous.[/QUOTE]

I guess that would depend on who you ask and how technical they're being. I would agree with you (ie, venom = inject, biological toxin; poison = toxin); because I try to be a precise person, I prefer the use of 'venomous' to describe snakes, especially in a formal setting.

A quick Google comparison seems to show that the public disagrees: searching for 'snakes venomous' yields 1,690,000 hits, while 'snakes poisonous' gets 3,010,000. Oh well...

[daniel1983]

I might be wrong, but I don't believe that is the definition. (okay, so I'm also lazy for not googling it) Frogs that excrete poison from glands on their skin are considered poisonous, not venomous.

http://dict.die.net/venom/
http://www.answers.com/topic/venom
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/...ticlekey=40545
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861733758/venom.html

I was going by the first definition......read the last one though....that sounds like the best one IMO

[cassandra]

Although I think I've yet to see a non-anal BP owner.

The non-anal ones abuse the animal and turn it in somewhere for adoption...=P

[snakeman55]

Poison is ingested OR absorbed. Venom is envenomated (injected). So if you swallow it OR absorb it through your skin, it's poison. Theoretically you can drink venom, as long as you have no oral mucosal lacerations with no adverse effects.