poison pill

Noun

poison pill (plural poison pills)

1. Any strategy designed to produce negative results for an entity carrying out a takeover.
   • The study also concludes that there is no indication that poison pills reduce the chance that a company will become a takeover target. In contrast, if investors viewed the introduction of the poison pill as deterring potential takeover attempts, the effect on shareholder returns would be negative.2003, Donald DePamphilis, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Other Restructuring Activities, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 151
   • There are reasons Twitter may opt not to do a poison pill. It might be wary of potential criticism that a poison pill is deflecting the concerns of a highly vocal member of its community.2022 April 14, Lauren Hirsch, “What happens next in Musk’s Twitter takeover offer.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   shareholder rights plan

2. A provision in a bill that leads to potential supporters opposing it instead.
   • They want to load the bills up with poison pills, measures the Republicans are inserting in the legislation to make sure I will veto it, so they can pretend it's not just the poison pill I'm against but the bill itself.1996, William J. Clinton, “Remarks on the Legislative Agenda and an Exchange With Reporters”, in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, volume 1, page 706
   • "It was a poison pill," Zwonitzer said of the creation of the state military. "We're a landlocked state that does not need an aircraft carrier."2012 February 28, John Celock, “Wyoming Doomsday Bill: State Legislators Kill Legislation”, in Huffpost
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see poison, pill.