killing field

American  

[kil-ing feeld] / ˈkɪl ɪŋ ˌfild /

noun

1. a site of indiscriminate and cruel killing of large numbers of people, especially a place of wartime genocide.

   The concentration camps of Germany and the killing fields of Cambodia are graphic displays of the presence of evil in our world.

2. a dangerous place where an excessive number of people have died, as by murder, riots, or drug overdose.

   Some 300 lives are violently ended each year on the killing fields of New York's streets and sidewalks, about half of them pedestrians or cyclists.

---

Etymology

Origin of killing field

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

US President Joe Biden has condemned the assassination attempt on his predecessor Donald Trump in a primetime address from the White House, telling Americans that US politics must never be a "killing field".

From BBC • Jul. 14, 2024

“The killing field is across the street from my driveway entrance,” said Bonnie Lynn, the founder of Yellowstone Voices, which campaigns against the hunt.

From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2023

At other times, he writes about Newhallville as if it’s a lawless killing field: “Bobby had no after-school activities in his neighborhood, no tutoring sessions, no open gyms, no library.”

From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2022

With such sums on offer, it is no surprise that English football has become such a managerial killing field.

From Reuters • Dec. 28, 2016

Cape Wind scoffs at charges that its wind farm would create a killing field for migratory birds, insisting that the turbine blades turn too slowly to do harm.

From Time Magazine Archive