killing
the act of a person or thing that kills.
the total game killed on a hunt.
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.
exhausting: An ever-expanding workload is imperceptible at first, but eventually we're operating at a killing pace.
Informal. irresistibly funny.
Slang. very attractive or fascinating: The actress is known for her outstanding beauty and killing smile.
Origin of killing
1Other words from killing
- kill·ing·ly, adverb
- self-kill·ing, adjective
- un·kill·ing, adjective
Words Nearby killing
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use killing in a sentence
Taylor’s killing has raised public attention about no-knock warrants and about search warrants in general.
The policing reforms in the Breonna Taylor settlement, explained | Fabiola Cineas | September 17, 2020 | VoxSaltwater washed into an area that had been freshwater only, killing 4,000 acres of vegetation — an area equal to more than 3,000 football fields.
Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them | Alison Pearce Stevens | September 17, 2020 | Science News For StudentsTrump falsely suggests he had something to do with the decision to send the National Guard into Minneapolis amid violence and protests of the killing of George Floyd in police custody.
Trump’s ABC News town hall: Four Pinocchios, over and over again | Glenn Kessler | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostAdegbile had argued in a brief that Mumia Abu-Jamal, a death-row inmate convicted of killing a police officer, had been victimized by racially biased jury selection.
While those criticisms have been leveled at other industries since the killing of George Floyd in May, few have given their critics as much cause for concern as agencies.
‘It’s all been plan, plan, plan mode:’ Agencies have big ideas for greater diversity, but more action is needed | Seb Joseph | September 15, 2020 | Digiday
In the first episode, an officer is shown video of himself shooting and killing a man.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops | Melissa Leon | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe gunman hardly broke stride as he nonetheless shot Merabet in the head, killing him.
Ass-kicking, bad guy-killing Carter is just a future spinster.
And similar shards of enthusiasm-killing kryptonite are lodged in John Kasich, Mike Pence and Ted Cruz.
But the act of killing herself done, the message was sent, and heard, and things started changing.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism | Arthur Chu | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThat, and a range war that grew out of the killing, and some kind of a business deal just about broke them.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairThe Taube has been bothering us again, but wound up its manœuvres very decently by killing some fish for our dinner.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonIt's a big chunk of money, and a little thing like killing a man or two won't trouble them.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairSometimes a horseman may succeed in killing him by cutting across his undeviating course.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. BallantyneHowever, I am bound to admit that it is a first-rate country for sport—also for killing Englishmen.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. Ballantyne
British Dictionary definitions for killing
/ (ˈkɪlɪŋ) /
informal very tiring; exhausting: a killing pace
informal extremely funny; hilarious
causing death; fatal
the act of causing death; slaying
informal a sudden stroke of success, usually financial, as in speculations on the stock market (esp in the phrase make a killing)
Derived forms of killing
- killingly, adverb
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
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