murderer

American  

[mur-der-er] / ˈmɜr dər ər /

noun

1. a person who commits murder.

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idioms

1. murderers' row,

   1. the row of cells in a prison where murderers and other violent or hard-core criminals are held.

   2. Baseball. a succession of heavy hitters scheduled to bat one after the other.

   3. any group of notorious or important people.

      a murderers' row of talent;

      a murderers' row of philosophers.

Other Word Forms

• self-murderer noun

Etymology

Origin of murderer

1300–50; Middle English mortherer, mord ( e ) rer; murder, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Not the ravenous hatred of the murderers and their enablers, but the quiet courage of decent people.

From The Wall Street Journal

When the lord chief justice of England is killed on Temple grounds, Gabriel is enlisted to identify the murderer.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr Pugh said he felt like a "number two" to his son's murderer while arranging the funeral before she was charged.

From BBC

“A person whose life was imminently threatened made a mistake. I don’t see how you could call that person a murderer.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Critics question how supporters could throw themselves behind an accused murderer.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• assassin
• executioner