slain

[sleyn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slain ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

past participle of slay.

Related formsun·slain, adjective

slay

[sley]

verb (used with object), slew or slayed (especially for def 4); slain; slay·ing.

to kill by violence.

to destroy; extinguish.

sley.

Slang.

to impress strongly; overwhelm, especially by humor: Your jokes slay me.
to make a strong impression with: She really slayed her performance last night.

Obsolete. to strike.

verb (used without object), slew or slayed (especially for def 7); slain; slay·ing.

to kill or murder.

Slang. to strongly impress or overwhelm someone: His whole album slays.

noun

sley.

Origin of slay

before 900; Middle English sleen, slayn, Old English slēan; cognate with Dutch slaan, German schlagen, Old Norse slā, Gothic slahan “to strike, beat”

Related formsslay·a·ble, adjectiveslay·er, nounun·slay·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms for slay

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slay ON THESAURUS.COM

1. murder, slaughter, massacre, butcher, assassinate. 2. annihilate, ruin.

sley

or slay, sleigh

[sley]

noun, plural sleys.

the reed of a loom.

the warp count in woven fabrics.

British. the lay of a loom.

verb (used with object)

to draw (warp ends) through the heddle eyes of the harness or through the dents of the reed in accordance with a given plan for weaving a fabric.

Origin of sley

before 1050; Middle English sleye, Old English slege weaver's reed; akin to Dutch slag, German Schlag, Old Norse slag, Gothic slahs a blow; see slay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for slain

dead

Examples from the Web for slain

Contemporary Examples of slain

Newspapers around Europe have also done so in solidarity with the slain.
Why We Stand With Charlie Hebdo—And You Should Too
John Avlon
January 8, 2015
On Monday, de Blasio called for a temporary halt to protests until after the funerals of the two slain officers.
Trayvon Martin’s Family Rejects ‘Dead Cops’ Marchers
Jacob Siegel
December 24, 2014
The woman and her husband and teenage daughter were all slain.
Hunt for Iraq Vet After Killing Spree
M.L. Nestel
December 16, 2014
The same spiritual sense prompted the bishop to seek justice for the slain activists.
Mexico’s First Lady of Murder Is on the Lam
Michael Daly
October 29, 2014
The actual field, where Richard was unhorsed and slain in a medieval marsh, is more than a mile away to the southwest.
Three Dicks: Cheney, Nixon, Richard III and the Art of Reputation Rehab
Clive Irving
July 27, 2014

Historical Examples of slain

One had already been slain by a bolt, so that there were but four upon their feet.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
The castle is taken and on fire, the seneschal is slain, and there is nought left for us.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Mantineans suffered severely in their retreat, but of the Argives only a few were slain.
Stories from Thucydides
H. L. Havell
His numbers were very inferior, and almost the whole were slain.
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II
Charlotte Mary Yonge
Both Ned and his sister understand that their father was slain in battle, about this time.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for slain

slain

verb

the past participle of slay

slay

verb slays, slaying, slew or slain (tr)

archaic, or literary to kill, esp violently

slang to impress (someone) sexually

obsolete to strike

Derived Formsslayer, noun

Word Origin for slay

Old English slēan; related to Old Norse slā, Gothic, Old High German slahan to strike, Old Irish slacaim I beat

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

Word Origin and History for slain

adj.

early 13c., from Old English (ge)slegen, past participle of slean (see slay (v.)). The noun meaning "those who have been slain" is attested from mid-14c.

slay

Old English slean "to smite, strike, beat," also "to kill with a weapon, slaughter" (class VI strong verb; past tense sloh, slog, past participle slagen), from Proto-Germanic *slahan, from root *slog- "to hit" (cf. Old Norse and Old Frisian sla, Danish slaa, Middle Dutch slaen, Dutch slaan, Old High German slahan, German schlagen, Gothic slahan "to strike"). The Germanic words are from PIE root *slak- "to strike" (cf. Middle Irish past participle slactha "struck," slacc "sword").

Modern German cognate schlagen maintains the original sense of "to strike." Meaning "overwhelm with delight" (mid-14c.) preserves one of the wide range of meanings the word once had, including, in Old English, "stamp (coins); forge (weapons); throw, cast; pitch (a tent), to sting (of a snake); to dash, rush, come quickly; play (the harp); gain by conquest."

slay

"instrument on a weaver's loom to beat up the weft," Old English slæ, slea, slahae, from root meaning "strike" (see slay (v.)), so called from "striking" the web together. Hence the surname Slaymaker "maker of slays."