assassinate

Assassinate is defined as the act of killing someone (usually a famous person) deliberately, or the act of killing someone after being hired to do so.

(verb)

An example of assassinate is pulling the trigger on a gun to kill a President.

The definition of assassinate is to harm or destroy an idea or someone's reputation.

(verb)

An example of assassinate is when a local school teacher looses his job after someone tells the community of the teacher's past history of theft.

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See assassinate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb assassinated, assassinating

  1. to murder (esp. a politically important or prominent person) by surprise attack, usually for payment or from zealous belief
  2. to harm or ruin (someone's reputation, etc.), as by slander, vilification, etc.

Related Forms:

See assassinate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates
  1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons.
  2. To destroy or injure treacherously: assassinate a rival's character.

Related Forms:

  • as·sasˌsi·naˈtion noun
  • as·sasˈsi·naˌtive adjective
  • as·sasˈsi·naˌtor noun

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