slay

[sley]

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

to kill by violence.
to destroy; extinguish.
sley.

Slang.
1. to impress strongly; overwhelm, especially by humor: Your jokes slay me.
2. 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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for slayer

executioner, criminal, manslayer, killer, butcher, murderess, soldier, triggerman, homicide, cutthroat, assassin, perpetrator, enforcer, hit-and-run

Examples from the Web for slayer

Contemporary Examples of slayer

Support for the royals rose to 35-year highs, leading some wags to dub Prince George “the Republican slayer”.
Prince George’s First Year Bodes Well for the Survival of the Royals
Tom Sykes
July 22, 2014
But this slayer of bullies can often seem, well, like a bully.
The Bully Waging War Against Bullies
Lizzie Crocker
October 10, 2013

Historical Examples of slayer

It was necessary that the Spaniards be pacified, and the slayer could not be found.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
He was my father, Sire, and I saw him slain—aye, and slew the slayer.
Fair Margaret
H. Rider Haggard
He was, in fact, a slayer of beasts—a foreman at the slaughter-house.
The Slave Of The Lamp
Henry Seton Merriman
They sought for the slayer of their friend with diligence and zeal.
The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3, January 1876
Various
By his dress he knew that he was his pursuer and Spurling's slayer.
Murder Point
Coningsby Dawson

British Dictionary definitions for slayer

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 slayer

late 14c., agent noun from slay (v.). The Old English agent noun was slaga "slayer, killer."

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."