slay

[ sley ]

/ sleɪ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR slay ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Words nearby slay

slavonic, slavophile, slavophobe, slavyansk, slaw, slay, slayton, slbm, slcm, sld, sld.

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”

SYNONYMS FOR slay

1 murder, slaughter, massacre, butcher, assassinate.

2 annihilate, ruin.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR slay ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM slay

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

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
But this slayer of bullies can often seem, well, like a bully.
The Bully Waging War Against Bullies|Lizzie Crocker|October 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Marie collected her thoughts and then prayed to God for the victim and its slayer.
The Confession of a Fool|August Strindberg
It is generally held that homicide of this kind was extremely rare and that, when it did occur, the slayer was outlawed.
The Heroic Age|H. Munro Chadwick

There is a proverb bearing upon these honours: "The slayer of ten closes one house; the slayer of twenty closes two houses."
The Fijians|Basil Thomson
Harold, when he heard of his death, pursued his slayer but did not succeed in overtaking him.
The Story of Norway|Hjalmar H. Boyesen
In what fencing-school did the slayer learn that terrible upward thrust beneath the chin?
Social Life in the Insect World|J. H. Fabre

British Dictionary definitions for slayer

slay

/ (sleɪ) /

verb slays, slaying, slew or slain (tr)

archaic, or literary to kill, esp violently

slang to impress (someone) sexually

obsolete to strike

Derived forms of slay

slayer, 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

slay

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

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

noun

Content related to slay

Words related to slay

Words nearby slay

Origin of slay

SYNONYMS FOR slay

OTHER WORDS FROM slay

Examples from the Web for slayer

British Dictionary definitions for slayer

verb slays, slaying, slew or slain (tr)

Derived forms of slay

Word Origin for slay