poisoned chalice

短语

毒药圣杯

发音

UK /ˈpɔɪzn̩d ˈtʃælɪs/
US /ˈpɔɪzənd ˈtʃælɪs/

词形变化

poisoned chalices 复数 poisoned chalices

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    Something which is initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful; an apparently beneficial or benign instrument or scheme for causing death or harm.

    毒药圣杯

    糖衣毒药

    习语

词源

From poisoned + chalice (“a large drinking cup”), referring to a chalice containing a poisoned drink which is offered to someone. The earliest use of the term cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (c. 1606), in a speech in which Macbeth flinches from the prospective murder of King Duncan: see the quotation.

来源：wiktionary