What is the meaning of poisoned pawn in chess?

Answer 1

When the game originated one pawn was coated in arsenic at the beginning of a match.

Then at the end the loser of the match had to pick a pawn to lick. if they chose the "poisoned pawn" they would die.

NOTE: The above is an entertaining lie. The Poisoned Pawn is a move in which a pawn is used as bait in order to gain an advantage, such as freeing a guarded square to secure a checkmate or to capture a menacing piece. Basically, it is tempting your opponent with an insignifigant sacrifice to swoop in for a move that needed the opponant's piece out of the way in order to perform, and putting a pawn out in the open and having the opponant take it performs that role nicely.