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slay

[sley]
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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.

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

noun

sley.

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

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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
n.

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

slay

v.

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

n.

"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."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper