killing
Americannoun
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killings
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of killing
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English killing(e), kyllyng(e) (gerund); see 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.
See Examples For:
“Until the AI starts killing people, unfortunately, history would suggest we’re not going to do anything,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
The conservancy was authorized to start killing deer in early September under a permit issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Clancy does not deny killing the three, but says there was no premeditation and she was experiencing psychosis at the time.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
That is entirely different than killing it off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
She just couldn’t bear the thought of killing something.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
“The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone—me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients,” he said in a statement released days after the killings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
During closing arguments, Reddington, Clancy's lawyer, said she had made numerous pleas for help before the killings but had received "lousy medical care" from the doctors she consulted.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Police were also briefly intrigued by the fact that al-Hilli's wife's first husband – an American – died of a heart attack just hours before the killings in France.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Greg Kading, who conducted the 2008 interview with Davis and later wrote a book on the killings of Tupac and Biggie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
A week after the killings, blacks in many cities held demonstrations to grieve for their dead, to show communal solidarity, and to vent outrage.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
