Adjacent Words

Kill definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

KILL, v.t.
1. To deprive of life, animal or vegetable, in any manner or by any means. To kill an animal or a plant, is to put an end to the vital functions, either by destroying or essentially injuring the organs necessary to life, or by causing them to cease from action. An animal may be killed by the sword or by poison, by disease or by suffocation. A strong solution of salt will kill plants.
2. To butcher; to slaughter for food; as, to kill an ox.
3. To quell; to appease; to calm; to still; as, in seamen's language, a shower of rain kills the wind.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of terminating a life [syn: killing, kill, putting to death]
2: the destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile; "the pilot reported two kills during the mission" v
1: cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays"
2: thwart the passage of; "kill a motion"; "he shot down the student's proposal" [syn: kill, shoot down, defeat, vote down, vote out]
3: end or extinguish by forceful means; "Stamp out poverty!" [syn: stamp out, kill]
4: be fatal; "cigarettes kill"; "drunken driving kills"
5: be the source of great pain for; "These new shoes are killing me!"
6: overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration; "The comedian was so funny, he was killing me!"
7: hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games; "She killed the ball"
8: hit with great force; "He killed the ball"
9: deprive of life; "AIDS has killed thousands in Africa"
10: cause the death of, without intention; "She was killed in the collision of three cars"
11: drink down entirely; "He downed three martinis before dinner"; "She killed a bottle of brandy that night"; "They popped a few beer after work" [syn: toss off, pop, bolt down, belt down, pour down, down, drink down, kill]
12: mark for deletion, rub off, or erase; "kill these lines in the President's speech" [syn: kill, obliterate, wipe out]
13: tire out completely; "The daily stress of her work is killing her"
14: cause to cease operating; "kill the engine"
15: destroy a vitally essential quality of or in; "Eating artichokes kills the taste of all other foods"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, perhaps from Old English *cyllan; akin to Old English cwellan to kill — more at quell Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to deprive of life ; cause the death of b. (1) to slaughter (as a hog) for food (2) to convert a food animal into (a kind of meat) by slaughtering 2. a. to put an end to <kill competition> b. defeat, veto <killed the amendment> c. to mark for omission; also delete d. annihilate, destroy <kill an enemy> 3. a. to destroy the vital or essential quality of <killed the pain with drugs> b. to cause to stop <kill the motor> c. to check the flow of current through 4. to make a markedly favorable impression on <she killed the audience> 5. to get through uneventfully <kill time>; also to get through (the time of a penalty) without being scored on <kill a penalty> 6. a. to cause extreme pain to b. to tire almost to the point of collapse 7. to hit (a shot) so hard in various games that a return is impossible 8. to consume (as a drink) totally intransitive verb 1. to deprive one of life 2. to make a markedly favorable impression <was dressed to kill> Synonyms: kill, slay, murder, assassinate, dispatch, execute mean to deprive of life. kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner <killed in an accident> <frost killed the plants>. slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive <slew thousands of the Philistines>. murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility <convicted of murdering a rival>. assassinate applies to deliberate killing openly or secretly often for political motives <terrorists assassinated the Senator>. dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death <dispatched the sentry with one bullet>. execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty <executed by lethal gas>. II. noun Date: 1814 1. a. an act or instance of killing b. a decisive act that conclusively secures something (as a deal or win) 2. something killed: as a. (1) an animal shot in a hunt (2) animals killed in a hunt, season, or particular period of time b. an enemy unit (as an airplane or ship) destroyed by military action c. a return shot in any of various games (as badminton, handball, or table tennis) that is too hard for an opponent to handle III. noun Usage: often capitalized Etymology: Dutch kil Date: 1669 channel, creek — used chiefly in place names in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 a deprive of life or vitality; put to death; cause the death of. b (absol.) cause or bring about death (must kill to survive). 2 destroy; put an end to (feelings etc.) (overwork killed my enthusiasm). 3 refl. (often foll. by pres. part.) colloq. a overexert oneself (don't kill yourself lifting them all at once). b laugh heartily. 4 colloq. overwhelm (a person) with amusement, delight, etc. (the things he says really kill me). 5 switch off (a spotlight, engine, etc.). 6 colloq. delete (a line, paragraph, etc.) from a computer file. 7 colloq. cause pain or discomfort to (my feet are killing me). 8 pass (time, or a specified amount of it) usu. while waiting for a specific event (had an hour to kill before the interview). 9 defeat (a bill in Parliament). 10 colloq. consume the entire contents of (a bottle of wine etc.). 11 a Tennis etc. hit (the ball) so skilfully that it cannot be returned. b stop (the ball) dead. 12 neutralize or render ineffective (taste, sound, colour, etc.) (thick carpet killed the sound of footsteps). --n. 1 an act of killing (esp. an animal). 2 an animal or animals killed, esp. by a sportsman. 3 colloq. the destruction or disablement of an enemy aircraft, submarine, etc. Phrases and idioms: dressed to kill dressed showily, alluringly, or impressively. in at the kill present at or benefiting from the successful conclusion of an enterprise. kill off 1 get rid of or destroy completely (esp. a number of persons or things). 2 (of an author) bring about the death of (a fictional character). kill or cure (usu. attrib.) (of a remedy etc.) drastic, extreme. kill two birds with one stone achieve two aims at once. kill with kindness spoil (a person) with overindulgence. Etymology: ME cülle, kille, perh. ult. rel. to QUELL

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Kill Kill, n. [D. kil.] A channel or arm of the sea; a river; a stream; as, the channel between Staten Island and Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills; -- used also in composition; as, Schuylkill, Catskill, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Kill Kill, n. A kiln. [Obs.] --Fuller.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Kill Kill, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Killed; p. pr. & vb. n. Killing.] [OE. killen, kellen, cullen, to kill, strike; perh. the same word as cwellen, quellen, to kill (cf. Quell), or perh. rather akin to Icel. kolla to hit in the head, harm, kollr top, summit, head, Sw. kulle, D. kollen to kill with the ax.] 1. To deprive of life, animal or vegetable, in any manner or by any means; to render inanimate; to put to death; to slay. Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words ! --Shak. 2. To destroy; to ruin; as, to kill one's chances; to kill the sale of a book. ``To kill thine honor.'' --Shak. Her lively color kill'd with deadly cares. --Shak. 3. To cause to cease; to quell; to calm; to still; as, in seamen's language, a shower of rain kills the wind. Be comforted, good madam; the great rage, You see, is killed in him. --Shak. 4. To destroy the effect of; to counteract; to neutralize; as, alkali kills acid. To kill time, to busy one's self with something which occupies the attention, or makes the time pass without tediousness. Syn: To murder; assassinate; slay; butcher; destroy. -- To Kill, Murder, Assassinate. To kill does not necessarily mean any more than to deprive of life. A man may kill another by accident or in self-defense, without the imputation of guilt. To murder is to kill with malicious forethought and intention. To assassinate is tomurder suddenly and by stealth. The sheriff may kill without murdering; the duelist murders, but does not assassinate his antagonist; the assassin kills and murders.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Kill Kill, n. 1. The act of killing. ``There is none like to me!'' says the cub in the pride of his earliest kill. --Kipling. 2. An animal killed in the hunt, as by a beast of prey. If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride. --Kipling.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(kills, killing, killed) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If a person, animal, or other living thing is killed, something or someone causes them to die. More than 1,000 people have been killed by the armed forces... He had attempted to kill himself on several occasions... The earthquake killed 62 people... Heroin can kill. VERB: be V-ed, V pron-refl, V n, V • killing There is tension in the region following the killing of seven civilians. N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n 2. The act of killing an animal after hunting it is referred to as the kill. After the kill the men and old women collect in an open space and eat a meal of whale meat. N-COUNT: usu sing 3. If someone or something kills a project, activity, or idea, they completely destroy or end it. His objective was to kill the space station project altogether... VERB: V n • Kill off means the same as kill. He would soon launch a second offensive, killing off the peace process... The Government's financial squeeze had killed the scheme off. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P 4. If something kills pain, it weakens it so that it is no longer as strong as it was. He was forced to take opium to kill the pain. VERB: V n 5. If you say that something is killing you, you mean that it is causing you physical or emotional pain. (INFORMAL) My feet are killing me. VERB: only cont, V pron 6. If you say that you kill yourself to do something, you are emphasizing that you make a great effort to do it, even though it causes you a lot of trouble or suffering. (INFORMAL) You shouldn't always have to kill yourself to do well. VERB: V pron-refl [emphasis] 7. If you say that you will kill someone for something they have done, you are emphasizing that you are extremely angry with them. Tell Richard I'm going to kill him when I get hold of him. VERB: V n [emphasis] 8. If you say that something will not kill you, you mean that it is not really as difficult or unpleasant as it might seem. (INFORMAL) Three or four more weeks won't kill me! VERB: V pron 9. If you are killing time, you are doing something because you have some time available, not because you really want to do it. I'm just killing time until I can talk to the other witnesses... To kill the hours while she waited, Ann worked in the garden. VERB: V n, V n, also V n -ing 10. If you say that you will do something if it kills you, you are emphasizing that you are determined to do it even though it is extremely difficult or painful. I'll make this marriage work if it kills me. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with cl [emphasis] 11. If you say that you killed yourself laughing, you are emphasizing that you laughed a lot because you thought something was extremely funny. (INFORMAL) PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis] 12. If you move in for the kill or if you close in for the kill, you take advantage of a changed situation in order to do something that you have been preparing to do. Seeing his chance, Dennis moved in for the kill. PHRASE: V inflects 13. to kill two birds with one stone: see bird dressed to kill: see dressed to be killed outright: see outright

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Slay, slaughter, murder, despatch, carry off, put to death, deprive of life, make away with, give one his quietus, give a death-blow to. See assassinate.

Moby Thesaurus

KO, abbreviate, abridge, absorb, adolescent stream, amuse, annihilate, arroyo, asphyxiate, assassinate, bane, beasts of venery, beck, beguile, bereave of life, big game, black out, blood, bloodletting, bloodshed, blot out, blue-pencil, bottle up, bourn, bowdlerize, braided stream, braining, branch, brook, brooklet, bump off, burn, butcher, call off, cancel, carry away, carry off, censor, channel, chloroform, choke, choke off, clamp down on, close, complete, conclusion, constitute, consume, convulse, cork, cork up, coup de grace, crack down on, creek, crick, cross out, crush, cut, cut down, cut off, cut short, damp, damp down, deaden, dealing death, death, deathblow, decimate, decree, defeat, delete, delight, denouement, deprive of life, destroy, destruction, destruction of life, devastate, dispatch, dispose of, divert, do away with, do for, do in, do to death, down, drop the curtain, drown, dull, edit, edit out, eliminate, enact, enact laws, end, end off, enliven, entertain, eradicate, erase, euthanasia, execute, execution, exhaust, exhilarate, expunge, expurgate, exterminate, extermination, extinguish, fag out, fatigue, filibuster, fill, finalize, finish, finish off, flow of blood, flowing stream, fluviation, fold up, fracture one, fresh, freshet, gag, game, get it over, get over with, get rid of, get the floor, get through with, gill, give the quietus, gore, have the floor, hit, hold down, hugger-mugger, hurt, hush, hush up, hush-hush, ice, idle, immolate, immolation, jump on, kayo, keep down, keep under, kibosh, killing, knife, knock dead, knock off, knock out, lapidation, launch into eternity, lay low, lazy stream, legislate, liquidate, lobby through, logroll, loosen up, lynch, make away with, martyr, martyrdom, martyrization, martyrize, massacre, meandering stream, mercy killing, midchannel, midstream, millstream, moving road, muffle, murder, muzzle, navigable river, negative, neutralize, nip, nullify, obliterate, occupy, omit, ordain, pain, pass, perfect, pigeonhole, pocket, poison, poisoning, polish off, pour water on, prey, purge, put away, put down, put in force, put paid to, put through, put to death, put to sleep, quarry, quash, quell, quench, race, racing stream, railroad through, raise a laugh, raise a smile, ravage, recreate, refresh, regale, relax, remove from life, repress, rescind, ritual killing, ritual murder, river, rivulet, roll logs, rub out, ruin, rule against, run, rundle, runlet, runnel, sacrifice, scrag, shoot, shoot down, shooting, shush, shut, shut down, shut down on, shut off, sike, silence, sit down on, sit on, slaughter, slay, slaying, smash, smother, snuff out, solace, spend, spill stream, squash, squelch, stanch, starve, stifle, still, stoning, strangle, stream, stream action, streamlet, strike, strike off, strike out, stultify, subdue, subterranean river, suffocate, suppress, switch off, table, take life, take off, take the floor, taking of life, termination, the hunted, throttle, tickle, tire out, titillate, to, torment, torture, turn off, use up, venery, veto, victim, void, wadi, waste, watercourse, waterway, weary, while away, wipe out, wow, yield the floor, zap