killing
Americannoun
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the act of a person or thing that kills.
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the total game killed on a hunt.
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Informal. a quick and unusually large profit or financial gain.
We would all like to win the lottery or make a killing in the stock market.
adjective
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Tuberculosis was a killing disease well into the 20th century, and society found itself with few remedies.
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exhausting.
An ever-expanding workload is imperceptible at first, but eventually we're operating at a killing pace.
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Informal. irresistibly funny.
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Slang. very attractive or fascinating.
The actress is known for her outstanding beauty and killing smile.
adjective
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informal very tiring; exhausting
a killing pace
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informal extremely funny; hilarious
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causing death; fatal
noun
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the act of causing death; slaying
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informal a sudden stroke of success, usually financial, as in speculations on the stock market (esp in the phrase make a killing )
Other Word Forms
- killingly adverb
- self-killing adjective
- unkilling adjective
Etymology
Origin of killing
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English killing(e), kyllyng(e) (gerund); kill 1, -ing 1, -ing 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I don't know if I would be a season ticket holder, but I'm killing a Saturday afternoon," Richard Kurland, a spectators at the match, told AFP.
From Barron's
“Since the summer, your hair . . . Seriously, it’s killing me. You started working here and now you have—” I gestured at her glorious mane.
From Literature
The giant log where Clare had recently planted the feather whites had been kicked down the gentle incline, killing every precious blue-blue in its wake.
From Literature
The condolence video was released after an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia airport in New York shortly after landing, killing Forest and another pilot, Mackenzie Gunther.
From BBC
In killing the video-generation app, the company’s priority is no longer wowing the media.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
