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.

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Etymology

Origin of killing field

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

Juliette Touma, communications director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, told the BBC that the new mechanism was "a killing field".

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2025

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

I’ve lived in Davao, the Philippines, all my life and I would say that it’s totally unfair to portray our country as some sort of a killing field.

From New York Times • Dec. 10, 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