slay

[ sley ]

verb (used with object)

slainslayingslew or slayed

1. to kill by violence:

   In this game, your goal is to slay the evil dragon and take his hoard.

   Synonyms: assassinate, butcher, massacre, slaughter, murder

2. to destroy; extinguish:

   Together we are slaying our self-doubt and working towards our dreams.

   Synonyms: ruin, annihilate

3. Slang.
   1. to impress strongly and favorably; overwhelm, especially by humor:

      Your jokes slay me.

   2. to make a strong favorable impression with:

      She really slayed her performance last night.

4. sley ( def 4 ).
5. Obsolete. to strike.

verb (used without object)

slainslayingslew or slayed

1. to kill or murder.
2. Slang. to have a strong favorable effect; to be remarkably impressive:

   His whole album slays.

noun

1. sley ( def ).

slay

/ sleɪ /

verb

1. archaic.
   to kill, esp violently
2. slang.
   to impress (someone) sexually
3. obsolete.
   to strike

Derived Forms

• ˈslayer, noun

Other Words From

• slay·a·ble adjective
• slay·er noun
• un·slay·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slay¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English sleen, slayn, Old English slēan; cognate with Dutch slaan, German schlagen, Old Norse slā, Gothic slahan “to strike, beat”

Word History and Origins

Origin of slay¹

Old English slēan; related to Old Norse slā, Gothic, Old High German slahan to strike, Old Irish slacaim I beat

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. slay the day, to have a good or successful day:

   I woke up refreshed and ready to slay the day.

Example Sentences

“It brings me little joy to approach anyone and slay them,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

Their initiation is to slay an infant in front of its mother in order to remove any semblance of humanity or emotion.

From The Daily Beast

But because these tax cuts have powerful, well-connected constituencies, it has been difficult to slay them.

From The Daily Beast

It was only a matter of time before these two enormous egos would clash—and try to slay each other.

From The Daily Beast

Even when she's forced to slay a dragon, she's on autopilot, going through the motions.

From The Daily Beast

On land and in sea the animal creation chase and maim, and slay and devour each other.

From Project Gutenberg

So we were wroth and made to slay the other baas, but he shot us down with a fire stick and returned to his own country in haste.

From Project Gutenberg

Her tragic attitude, her wondrous beauty, awed the men, and they lowered the guns that had been raised to slay the father.

From Project Gutenberg

And they shall bring upon thee a multitude, and they shall stone thee with stones, and shall slay thee with their swords.

From Project Gutenberg

Wilt thou yet say before them that slay thee: I am God; whereas thou art a man, and not God, in the hand of them that slay thee?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• assassinate
• butcher
• destroy
• dispatch
• execute
• exterminate
• massacre
• murder
• slaughter