Kill

[kil] /kɪl/

verb (used with object)
1.
to deprive of life in any manner; cause the death of; slay.
Synonyms: slaughter, massacre, butcher; hang, electrocute, behead, guillotine, strangle, garrote; assassinate.
2.
to destroy; do away with; extinguish:
His response killed our hopes.
3.
to destroy or neutralize the active qualities of:
to kill an odor.
4.
to spoil the effect of:
His extra brushwork killed the painting.
5.
to cause (time) to be consumed with seeming rapidity or with a minimum of boredom, especially by engaging in some easy activity or amusement of passing interest:
I had to kill three hours before plane time.
6.
to spend (time) unprofitably:
He killed ten good years on that job.
7.
Informal. to overcome completely or with irresistible effect:
That comedian kills me.
8.
to muffle or deaden:
This carpet kills the sound of footsteps.
9.
Informal. to cause distress or discomfort to:
These new shoes are killing me.
10.
Informal. to tire completely; exhaust:
The long hike killed us.
11.
Informal. to consume completely:
They killed a bottle of bourbon between them.
12.
to cancel publication of (a word, paragraph, item, etc.), especially after it has been set in type.
13.
to defeat or veto (a legislative bill, etc.).
14.
Electricity. to render (a circuit) dead.
15.
to stop the operation of (machinery, engines, etc.):
He killed the motor and the car stopped.
16.
Tennis. to hit (a ball) with such force that its return is impossible.
17.
Metallurgy.

18.
Ice Hockey. to prevent the opposing team from scoring in the course of (a penalty being served by a teammate or teammates).
verb (used without object)
19.
to inflict or cause death.
20.
to commit murder.
21.
to be killed.
22.
to overcome completely; produce an irresistible effect:
dressed to kill.
23.
Slang. to feel a smarting pain, as from a minor accident; sting:
I stubbed my little toe and that really kills.
noun
24.
the act of killing, especially game:
The hounds moved in for the kill.
25.
an animal or animals killed.
26.
a number or quantity killed.
27.
an act or instance of hitting or destroying a target, especially an enemy aircraft.
28.
the target so hit or, especially, destroyed.
29.
Sports. .
Verb phrases
30.
kill off,

Idioms
31.
kill with kindness, to overdo in one’s efforts to be kind:
The aunts would kill their nephews and nieces with kindness.
[kil] /kɪl/
noun, Chiefly New York State.
1.
a channel; creek; stream; river: used especially in place names:
Kill Van Kull.
/kɪl/
verb (mainly transitive)
1.
(also intr; when transitive, sometimes foll by off) to cause the death of (a person or animal)
2.
to put an end to; destroy: to kill someone’s interest
3.
to make (time) pass quickly, esp while waiting for something
4.
to deaden (sound)
5.
(informal) to tire out; exhaust: the effort killed him
6.
(informal) to cause to suffer pain or discomfort: my shoes are killing me
7.
(informal) to cancel, cut, or delete: to kill three lines of text
8.
(informal) to quash, defeat, or veto: the bill was killed in the House of Lords
9.
(informal) to switch off; stop: to kill a motor
10.
(also intransitive) (informal) to overcome with attraction, laughter, surprise, etc: she was dressed to kill, his gags kill me
11.
(slang) to consume (alcoholic drink) entirely: he killed three bottles of rum
12.
(sport) to hit (a ball) so hard or so accurately that the opponent cannot return it
13.
(soccer) to bring (a moving ball) under control; trap
14.
(informal) kill oneself, to overexert oneself: don’t kill yourself
15.
kill two birds with one stone, to achieve two results with one action
noun
16.
the act of causing death, esp at the end of a hunt, bullfight, etc
17.
the animal or animals killed during a hunt
18.
(NZ) the seasonal tally of stock slaughtered at a freezing works
19.
the destruction of a battleship, tank, etc
20.
in at the kill, present at the end or climax of some undertaking
/kɪl/
noun
1.
(US) a channel, stream, or river (chiefly as part of place names)
v.

c.1200, “to strike, hit, beat, knock;” c.1300, “to deprive of life,” perhaps from an unrecorded variant of Old English cwellan “to kill” (see quell), but the earliest sense suggests otherwise. Sense in to kill time is from 1728. Related: Killed; killing. Kill-devil, colloquial for “rum,” especially if new or of bad quality, is from 1630s.
n.

early 13c., “a stroke, a blow,” from kill (v.). Meaning “act of killing” is from 1814; that of “a killed animal” is from 1878. Lawn tennis serve sense is from 1903. The kill “the knockout” is boxing jargon, 1950.

“stream,” 1630s, American English, from Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille “riverbed,” especially in place names (e.g. Schuylkill). A common Germanic word, the Old Norse form, kill, meant “bay, gulf” and gave its name to Kiel Fjord on the German Baltic coast and thence to Kiel, the port city founded there in 1240.

noun

verb

Related Terms

in at the kill, killer