kill
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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kills,
present (3rd person singular)
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killed,
past participle, past
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killing
present participle
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to deprive of life in any manner; cause the death of; slay.
- Synonyms:
- assassinate, garrote, strangle, guillotine, behead, electrocute, hang, butcher, massacre, slaughter
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to destroy; extinguish; do away with.
His response killed our hopes.
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to destroy or neutralize the active qualities of.
to kill an odor.
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to spoil the effect of.
His extra brushwork killed the painting.
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to cause (time) to be consumed with seeming rapidity or with a minimum of boredom, especially by engaging in some easy activity or amusement of passing interest.
I had to kill three hours before plane time.
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to spend (time) unprofitably.
He killed ten good years on that job.
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Informal. to overcome completely or with irresistible effect.
That comedian kills me.
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to muffle or deaden.
This carpet kills the sound of footsteps.
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Informal. to cause distress or discomfort to.
These new shoes are killing me.
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Informal. to tire completely; exhaust.
The long hike killed us.
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Informal. to consume completely.
They killed a bottle of bourbon between them.
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to cancel publication of (a word, paragraph, item, etc.), especially after it has been set in type.
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to defeat or veto (a legislative bill, etc.).
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Electricity. to render (a circuit) dead.
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to stop the operation of (machinery, engines, etc.).
He killed the motor and the car stopped.
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Tennis. to hit (a ball) with such force that its return is impossible.
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Metallurgy.
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to deoxidize (steel) before teeming into an ingot mold.
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to eliminate springiness from (wire or the like).
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to cold-roll (sheet metal) after final heat treatment in order to eliminate distortion.
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Ice Hockey. to prevent the opposing team from scoring in the course of (a penalty being served by a teammate or teammates).
verb (used without object)
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kills,
present (3rd person singular)
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killed,
past participle, past
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killing
present participle
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to inflict or cause death.
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to commit murder.
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to be killed.
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to overcome completely; produce an irresistible effect.
dressed to kill.
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Slang. to feel a smarting pain, as from a minor accident; sting.
I stubbed my little toe and that really kills.
noun
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the act of killing, especially game.
The hounds moved in for the kill.
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an animal or animals killed.
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a number or quantity killed.
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an act or instance of hitting or destroying a target, especially an enemy aircraft.
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the target so hit or, especially, destroyed.
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Sports. kill shot.
verb phrase
idioms
noun
verb
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(also intr; when tr, sometimes foll by off) to cause the death of (a person or animal)
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to put an end to; destroy
to kill someone's interest
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to make (time) pass quickly, esp while waiting for something
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to deaden (sound)
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informal to tire out; exhaust
the effort killed him
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informal to cause to suffer pain or discomfort
my shoes are killing me
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informal to cancel, cut, or delete
to kill three lines of text
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informal to quash, defeat, or veto
the bill was killed in the House of Lords
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informal to switch off; stop
to kill a motor
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informal (also intr) to overcome with attraction, laughter, surprise, etc
she was dressed to kill
his gags kill me
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slang to consume (alcoholic drink) entirely
he killed three bottles of rum
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sport to hit (a ball) so hard or so accurately that the opponent cannot return it
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soccer to bring (a moving ball) under control; trap
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informal to overexert oneself
don't kill yourself
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to achieve two results with one action
noun
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the act of causing death, esp at the end of a hunt, bullfight, etc
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the animal or animals killed during a hunt
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the seasonal tally of stock slaughtered at a freezing works
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the destruction of a battleship, tank, etc
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present at the end or climax of some undertaking
noun
Synonym Usage
Kill, execute, murder all mean to deprive of life. Kill is the general word, with no implication of the manner of killing, the agent or cause, or the nature of what is killed (whether human being, animal, or plant): to kill a person. Execute is used with reference to the putting to death of one in accordance with a legal sentence, no matter what the means are: to execute a criminal. Murder is used of killing a human being unlawfully: He murdered him for his money.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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killsimple
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killssimple
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have killedperfect
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has killedperfect
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am killingprogressive
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are killingprogressive
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is killingprogressive
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have been killingperfect progressive
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has been killingperfect progressive
Past
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killedsimple
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had killedperfect
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was killingprogressive
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were killingprogressive
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had been killingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kill1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English cullen, killen, kelle “to strike, beat, kill,” Old English cyllan (unattested); cognate with dialectal German küllen (Westphalian). Cf. quell
Origin of kill2
An Americanism first recorded in 1660–70; from Dutch kil, Middle Dutch kille “channel”
Explanation
To kill is to end the life of some living being or something else. So, you could kill a deer by shooting it with a hunting rifle or kill a bill by voting against it. Hunters kill animals for their meat, and drivers sometimes kill an animal accidentally, or inadvertently kill a plant, simply by forgetting to water it. Certain inanimate things are also said to kill, like poison or disease or drunk driving. In each of these cases, death is caused and life is taken. You can also kill figuratively, as when a school board kills the foreign language program or a thunderstorm kills your hopes of a picnic.
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.
See Examples For:
"We found that micromolar concentrations tended to kill the cells," Talbot said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Though some might think of Wile E. as a villain just trying to kill and eat the Roadrunner, Green considers him an eternal optimist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
You need to have a car that's alright over bumps, that's not trying to kill you every time.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
"I have a part-time job as everything is so expensive, and then commuting is going to kill a lot of my free time as well," she says.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Panicking for a moment, he frantically dusted it off him until he realized it wasn’t trying to kill him.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
It’s absurd that one of the first guys Cole kills could be his doppelganger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Crabb had 10 kills and 14 digs during the match, with many of the kills coming during the second set.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
As his father reminds John during a venting session that occurs after Hal nonchalantly almost kills him, “They’re allowed to have tantrums. We’re not.”
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
If successful, the strategy could eventually offer a new way to combat an HIV epidemic that still kills about 600,000 people worldwide every year.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Yeah, nothing to worry about there, Coopie,” I say, even though it kills me.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
She said Mohammed was killed after running away from soldiers patrolling their village of Al-Rihiya, in the south of the occupied West Bank.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Fortunately for her, none of her immediate family died in the Venezuela earthquakes which are estimated to have killed at least 6,300 people.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
“The robot killed the working man,” he sang while belting out the yet-to-be released song to a crowd near Dallas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Nepal's disaster agency said Saturday that at least 675 people had been killed, bringing the total to at least 682.
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
In comparison, the Kobe Earthquake of 1995, with a magnitude of 6.8, had killed 6,308 people.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
But that happened in 1950, and the storm was indirectly responsible for killing two people.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
On Wednesday morning, a massive flood of mud, water and debris swept away villages on either side of the border between China and Nepal, killing more than 360 people and leaving around 1,450 missing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
In January, a fire ripped through the Gul Plaza shopping centre in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi, killing 67 people.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
A US federal judge postponed on Monday the trial of a Libyan man accused of making the bomb that destroyed a Pan Am flight over Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people, citing new evidence.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Get me a couple of aspirins, mijo. My head is killing me,” he said, covering his head with both hands.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
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.
