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kill¹ Definition

kill (kil)

transitive verb

  1. to cause the death of; make die
    1. to destroy the vital or active qualities of
    2. to destroy; put an end to; ruin
  3. to prevent the passage of (legislation); defeat or veto
  4. to spend (time) on matters of little or no importance
  5. ☆
    1. to cause (an engine, etc.) to stop; turn off
    2. to turn off (a light, esp. a theater spotlight)
    3. to muffle (sound)
  6. ☆ to prevent publication of to kill a newspaper story
  7. to spoil the effect of; destroy by contrast: said of colors, etc.
  8. Informal to overcome with laughter, chagrin, pleasure, surprise, etc.
  9. Informal to cause to feel great pain or discomfort
  10. Informal to tire out; exhaust
  11. ☆ Slang to drink the last, or all, of (a bottle of liquor, etc.); finish off
  12. ☆ Printing to mark as not to be used; score out; cancel
  13. Tennis, etc. to return (the ball) with such force that it cannot be returned

Etymology: ME kullen, killen < ? OE *cyllan, special late phonetic development of cwellan, to kill: see quell

intransitive verb

  1. to destroy life
  2. to be killed plants that kill easily

noun

  1. an act or instance of killing
  2. an animal or animals killed
  3. an enemy plane, ship, etc. destroyed

kill¹ Idioms

in at the kill

  1. present when the hunted animal is killed
  2. present at the end or climax of some action

to kill

Informal to make a strongly desirable impression dressed to kill

kill² Definition

☆ kill (kil)

noun

a stream; channel; creek: used esp. in place names

Etymology: Du kil < MDu kille, akin to ON kīll, inlet

kill Synonyms

kill

v.

  1. To deprive of life

    slay, slaughter, murder, assassinate, massacre, butcher, execute, put to death, dispatch, hang, lynch, electrocute, knife, immolate, sacrifice, shoot, strangle, garrote, stifle, poison, choke, smother, suffocate, asphyxiate, drown, behead, hack, guillotine, crucify, dismember, decapitate, disembowel, quarter, tear limb from limb, destroy, give the death blow, give the coup de grÂce, take someone's life, put an end to, victimize, martyr, exterminate, purge, stab, cut the throat, shoot down, put to the sword, mangle, cut down, bring down, mow down, machine-gun, decimate, carry off, pick off, liquidate, eliminate, remove, put one out of one's misery, put to sleep, put away, euthanize, starve, bludgeon, make away with, do away with, commit murder, spill blood, bump off*, rub out*, wipe out*, hit*, erase*, waste*, grease*, take for a ride*, do in*, knock off*, heave overboard*, finish off*, get rid of*, blow one's brains out*, send to glory*, brain*, zap*, ice*, off*, blow away*.

    Antonyms rescue*, resuscitate*, animate. *

  2. To deprive of existence

    exterminate, ruin, annihilate; see abolish, destroy 1.

  3. To cancel

    annul, nullify, counteract; see cancel 2, recant, revoke.

  4. To turn off

    halt, shut off, stop; see halt 2, turn off 1.

  5. To veto

    cancel, prohibit, refuse; see forbid, refuse.

kill is the general word in this list, meaning to cause the death of in any way, and may be applied to persons, animals, or plants; slay, now largely a literary word, implies deliberate and violent killing; murder applies to an unlawful and malicious or premeditated killing; assassinate implies specifically the sudden killing of a politically important person, often by someone hired or delegated to do this; execute denotes a killing in accordance with a legally imposed sentence; dispatch suggests a killing by direct action, such as shooting, and emphasizes speed or promptness

kill Usage Examples

Object

  • civilian: Similarly, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed mostly civilians.
  • bacterium: The high levels of nicotine in tobacco can kill bacteria.
  • soldier: Brit soldier killed in Basra The Sun, UK - 16 Jul 2006 By SUN ONLINE REPORTER.
  • fox: The 156 hunts registered with the Masters of Foxhounds Association met on 206 occasions and killed 157 foxes in the week ending 26th February.
  • badger: Killing badgers is controversial as they are a protected species.
  • hundred: Protesters who escaped say government troops fired into the crowd, killing hundreds of people.

Subject

  • sniper: His Company Commander later wrote He was killed by a sniper and suffered no pain.
  • bomb: Then she saw a bunch of kiddies killed by another bomb.
  • shellfire: Herbert was that Other Rank, but he had not been killed by shellfire.

Followed by a transitive particle

off: Hotter than a hundred suns, the furnaces were being used to kill off the unwanted ABC Warriors.

Used with why or when

  • whoever: After I get out; I will track down and kill whoever got me.
  • when: Mumia was shot by police officers and almost killed when he intervened to stop his brother being beaten by the police.

Preposition: in

  • crash: He was killed in an air crash in 1961.
  • accident: Across the Thames Valley as a whole the numbers killed in accidents fell 13.9 % from 173 in 2000 to 149 last year.
  • action: He was killed in action at Leuze Wood four months later.
  • fighting: I wander how many of these men were killed in the fighting.
  • battle: Many wreckers and not a few Customs men were killed in pitched battles over the booty.
  • raid: By the end of the war over 1500 British citizens had been killed in air raids.

Preposition: by

  • sniper: His Company Commander later wrote He was killed by a sniper and suffered no pain.
  • bomb: Then she saw a bunch of kiddies killed by another bomb.

Browse dictionary entries near kill

  1. ‹ Kilkenny
  2. ‹ Kilimanjaro
  3. ‹ kilim
  4. ‹ kilderkin
  5. ‹ Kildare
  6. ‹ Kilauea
  7. ‹ Kikuyu
  8. ‹ Kikongo
  9. ‹ kike
  10. ‹ Kigali
  1. kill fee ›
  2. Killarney ›
  3. killdeer ›
  4. Killeen ›
  5. killer ›
  6. killer bee ›
  7. killer cell ›
  8. killer satellite ›
  9. killer whale ›
  10. killick ›