kill

[kil]

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verb (used with object)

to deprive of life in any manner; cause the death of; slay.

to destroy; do away with; extinguish: His response killed our hopes.

to destroy or neutralize the active qualities of: to kill an odor.

to spoil the effect of: His extra brushwork killed the painting.

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.

to spend (time) unprofitably: He killed ten good years on that job.

Informal. to overcome completely or with irresistible effect: That comedian kills me.

to muffle or deaden: This carpet kills the sound of footsteps.

Informal. to cause distress or discomfort to: These new shoes are killing me.

Informal. to tire completely; exhaust: The long hike killed us.

Informal. to consume completely: They killed a bottle of bourbon between them.

to cancel publication of (a word, paragraph, item, etc.), especially after it has been set in type.

to defeat or veto (a legislative bill, etc.).

Electricity. to render (a circuit) dead.

to stop the operation of (machinery, engines, etc.): He killed the motor and the car stopped.

Tennis. to hit (a ball) with such force that its return is impossible.

Metallurgy.

to deoxidize (steel) before teeming into an ingot mold.
to eliminate springiness from (wire or the like).
to cold-roll (sheet metal) after final heat treatment in order to eliminate distortion.

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)

to inflict or cause death.

to commit murder.

to be killed.

to overcome completely; produce an irresistible effect: dressed to kill.

Slang. to feel a smarting pain, as from a minor accident; sting: I stubbed my little toe and that really kills.

noun

the act of killing, especially game: The hounds moved in for the kill.

an animal or animals killed.

a number or quantity killed.

an act or instance of hitting or destroying a target, especially an enemy aircraft.

the target so hit or, especially, destroyed.

Sports. kill shot.

Verb Phrases

kill off,

to destroy completely; kill, especially successively or indiscriminately: The invaders killed off all the inhabitants of the town.
Informal.to extinguish; eliminate: The bus ride every day kills off all of my energy.

Idioms

kill with kindness, to overdo in one's efforts to be kind: The aunts would kill their nephews and nieces with kindness.

Origin of kill

1175–1225; Middle English cullen, killen to strike, beat, kill, Old English *cyllan; cognate with dialectal German küllen (Westphalian). See quell

Related formskill·a·ble, adjectiveself-killed, adjectiveun·killed, adjective

Can be confusedkill kiln

Synonym study

1. 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.

kill

[kil]

noun Chiefly New York State.

a channel; creek; stream; river: used especially in place names: Kill Van Kull.

Origin of kill

1660–70, Americanism; < Dutch kil, Middle Dutch kille channel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for kill

execute, murder, hit, slay, massacre, slaughter, drown, poison, get, assassinate, stop, crucify, dump, neutralize, asphyxiate, dispatch, erase, extirpate, guillotine, strangle

Examples from the Web for kill

Contemporary Examples of kill

That ground hold was to stop you flying through weather that could kill you and everyone else aboard.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501
Clive Irving
January 6, 2015
Even a relatively small 250-pound bomb could kill or injure friendly troops who are within 650 feet of the explosion.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019
Dave Majumdar
December 31, 2014
What responsibility was taken by cops when they kill unjustly?
Protesters Demand Justice For Gurley As Gap Grows Between Cops and NYC
M.L. Nestel
December 28, 2014
And two days after that, Bertrand set out to kill and be killed.
France’s Wave of Crazy-Terror Christmas Attacks
Christopher Dickey
December 24, 2014
At the beginning of the video and before the call to kill police, you can hear what sounds like, “arms up, shoot back!”
The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops
Jacob Siegel
December 23, 2014

Historical Examples of kill

When you kill off all your present army, you must git up a draft.
Punchinello, Vol. 1. No. 20, August 13, 1870
Various
The bullets of Allister and Clune might have gone home— they were intended to kill, not to wound.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
There would remain two more, and one of them was certain to kill him.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
What sheep he did not kill for the use of his men, he ordered to be bayoneted.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
William Dobein James
In the second place, he who would live must not kill anyone else.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King

British Dictionary definitions for kill

kill

verb (mainly tr)

(also intr; when tr, sometimes foll by off) to cause the death of (a person or animal)

to put an end to; destroyto kill someone's interest

to make (time) pass quickly, esp while waiting for something

to deaden (sound)

informal to tire out; exhaustthe effort killed him

informal to cause to suffer pain or discomfortmy shoes are killing me

informal to cancel, cut, or deleteto kill three lines of text

informal to quash, defeat, or vetothe bill was killed in the House of Lords

informal to switch off; stopto kill a motor

(also intr) informal to overcome with attraction, laughter, surprise, etcshe was dressed to kill; his gags kill me

slang to consume (alcoholic drink) entirelyhe killed three bottles of rum

sport to hit (a ball) so hard or so accurately that the opponent cannot return it

soccer to bring (a moving ball) under control; trap

kill oneself informal to overexert oneselfdon't kill yourself

kill two birds with one stone to achieve two results with one action

noun

the act of causing death, esp at the end of a hunt, bullfight, etc

the animal or animals killed during a hunt

NZ the seasonal tally of stock slaughtered at a freezing works

the destruction of a battleship, tank, etc

in at the kill present at the end or climax of some undertaking

Word Origin for kill

C13 cullen; perhaps related to Old English cwellan to kill; compare German (Westphalian dialect) küllen; see quell

kill

noun

US a channel, stream, or river (chiefly as part of place names)

Word Origin for kill

C17: from Middle Dutch kille; compare Old Norse kīll small bay, creek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for kill

c.1200, "to strike, hit, beat, knock;" c.1300, "to deprive of life," perhaps from an unrecorded variant of Old English cwellan "to kill" (see quell), but the earliest sense suggests otherwise. Sense in to kill time is from 1728. Related: Killed; killing. Kill-devil, colloquial for "rum," especially if new or of bad quality, is from 1630s.

n.2

"stream," 1630s, American English, from Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille "riverbed," especially in place names (e.g. Schuylkill). A common Germanic word, the Old Norse form, kill, meant "bay, gulf" and gave its name to Kiel Fjord on the German Baltic coast and thence to Kiel, the port city founded there in 1240.

n.1

early 13c., "a stroke, a blow," from kill (v.). Meaning "act of killing" is from 1814; that of "a killed animal" is from 1878. Lawn tennis serve sense is from 1903. The kill "the knockout" is boxing jargon, 1950.

Idioms and Phrases with kill

kill

In addition to the idioms beginning with kill

kill off
kill or cure
kill the fatted calf
kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
kill time
kill two birds with one stone
kill with kindness

also see:

curiosity killed the cat
dressed to kill
fit to kill
in at the death (kill)
make a killing