poison the well

English

Verb

poison the well (third-person singular simple present poisons the well, present participle poisoning the well, simple past and past participle poisoned the well)

  1. (intransitive) to preemptively raise ad hominem arguments in order to discredit someone
  2. Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see poison,‎ the,‎ well.
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