Adjacent Words

Murder definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MUR'DER, n. [L. mors.]
1. The act of unlawfully killing a human being with premeditated malice, by a person of sound mind. To constitute murder in law, the person killing another must be of sound mind or in possession of his reason, and the act must be done with malice prepense, aforethought or premeditated; but malice may be implied, as well as express.
2. An outcry, when life is in danger.
MUR'DER, v.t.
1. To kill a human being with premeditated malice. [See the Noun.]
2. To destroy; to put an end to.
Canst thou murder thy breath in middle of a word?

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: unlawful premeditated killing of a human being by a human being [syn: murder, slaying, execution] v
1: kill intentionally and with premeditation; "The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered" [syn: murder, slay, hit, dispatch, bump off, off, polish off, remove]
2: alter so as to make unrecognizable; "The tourists murdered the French language" [syn: mangle, mutilate, murder]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: partly from Middle English murther, from Old English morthor; partly from Middle English murdre, from Anglo-French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English morthor; akin to Old High German mord murder, Latin mort-, mors death, mori to die, mortuus dead, Greek brotos mortal Date: before 12th century 1. the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought 2. a. something very difficult or dangerous <the traffic was murder> b. something outrageous or blameworthy <getting away with murder> II. verb (murdered; murdering) Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. to kill (a human being) unlawfully and with premeditated malice 2. to slaughter wantonly ; slay 3. a. to put an end to b. tease, torment c. mutilate, mangle <murders French> d. to defeat badly intransitive verb to commit murder Synonyms: see kill

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 the unlawful premeditated killing of a human being by another (cf. MANSLAUGHTER). 2 colloq. an unpleasant, troublesome, or dangerous state of affairs (it was murder here on Saturday). --v.tr. 1 kill (a human being) unlawfully, esp. wickedly or inhumanly. 2 Law kill (a human being) with a premeditated motive. 3 colloq. utterly defeat or spoil by a bad performance, mispronunciation etc. (murdered the soliloquy in the second act). Phrases and idioms: cry blue murder sl. make an extravagant outcry. get away with murder colloq. do whatever one wishes and escape punishment. murder will out murder cannot remain undetected. Derivatives: murderer n. murderess n. Etymology: OE morthor & OF murdre f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Murder Mur"der, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Murdered; p. pr. & vb. n. Murdering.] [OE. mortheren, murtheren, AS. myr?rian; akin to OHG. murdiren, Goth. ma['u]r?rjan. See Murder, n.] 1. To kill with premediated malice; to kill (a human being) willfully, deliberately, and unlawfully. See Murder, n. 2. To destroy; to put an end to. [Canst thou] murder thy breath in middle of a word? --Shak. 3. To mutilate, spoil, or deform, as if with malice or cruelty; to mangle; as, to murder the king's English. Syn: To kill; assassinate; slay. See Kill.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Murder Mur"der, n. [OE. morder, morther, AS. mor[eth]or, fr. mor[eth] murder; akin to D. moord, OS. mor[eth], G., Dan., & Sw. mord, Icel. mor[eth], Goth. ma['u]r[thorn]r, OSlav. mr[=e]ti to die, Lith. mirti, W. marw dead, L. mors, mortis, death, mori, moriri, to die, Gr. broto`s (for mroto`s) mortal, 'a`mbrotos immortal, Skr. m[.r] to die, m[.r]ta death. [root]105. Cf. Amaranth, Ambrosia, Mortal.] The offense of killing a human being with malice prepense or aforethought, express or implied; intentional and unlawful homicide. ``Mordre will out.'' --Chaucer. The killing of their children had, in the account of God, the guilt of murder, as the offering them to idols had the guilt of idolatry. --Locke. Slaughter grows murder when it goes too far. --Dryden. Note: Murder in the second degree, in most jurisdictions, is a malicious homicide committed without a specific intention to take life. --Wharton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(murders, murdering, murdered) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Murder is the deliberate and illegal killing of a person. The three accused, aged between 19 and 20, are charged with attempted murder... She refused to testify, unless the murder charge against her was dropped. ...brutal murders. N-VAR 2. To murder someone means to commit the crime of killing them deliberately. ...a thriller about two men who murder a third to see if they can get away with it. ...the body of a murdered religious and political leader. VERB: V n, V-ed, also V 3. If you say that someone gets away with murder, you are complaining that they can do whatever they like without anyone trying to control them or punish them. (INFORMAL) His charm and the fact that he is so likeable often allows him to get away with murder. PHRASE: V inflects [disapproval]

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Wilful murder was distinguished from accidental homicide, and was invariably visited with capital punishment (Num. 35:16, 18, 21, 31; Lev. 24:17). This law in its principle is founded on the fact of man's having been made in the likeness of God (Gen. 9:5, 6; John 8:44; 1 John 3:12, 15). The Mosiac law prohibited any compensation for murder or the reprieve of the murderer (Ex. 21:12, 14; Deut. 19:11, 13; 2 Sam. 17:25; 20:10). Two witnesses were required in any capital case (Num. 35:19-30; Deut. 17:6-12). If the murderer could not be discovered, the city nearest the scene of the murder was required to make expiation for the crime committed (Deut. 21:1-9). These offences also were to be punished with death, (1) striking a parent; (2) cursing a parent; (3) kidnapping (Ex. 21:15-17; Deut. 27:16).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

1. Terms:

mur'-der (haragh, "to smite," "destroy," "kill," "slay" (Ps 10:8; Ho 9:13 AV]), ratsach, "to dash to pieces," "kill," especially with premeditation (Nu 35:16 and frequently; 3Job 24:14; Ps 94:6; Jer 7:9; Ho 6:9); phoneus, "criminal homicide," from phoneuo, "to kill," "slay"; phonos, from pheno, has the same meaning; anthropoktonos, "manslayer," "murderer," is used to designate Satan (Joh 8:44) and him that hates his brother (1 Joh 3:15); a matricide is designated as metraloas (1Ti 1:9); compare adelphokionos, "fratricidal" (The Wisdom of Solomon 10:3). The plural of phonos, "murders," occurs in Mt 15:19; Mr 7:21; Ga 5:21 the King James Version; Re 9:21; compare 2 Macc 4:3,18; 12:6):

2. The Hebrew Law:

The Hebrew law recognized the distinction between willful murder and accidental or justifiable homicide (Nu 25:16); but in legal language no verbal distinction is made. Murder was always subject to capital punishment (Le 24:17; compare Ge 9:6). Even if the criminal sought the protection of the sanctuary, he was to be arrested before the altar, and to be punished (Ex 21:12,14; Le 24:17,21; Nu 35:16,18,21,31). The Mishna says that a mortal blow intended for another than the victim is punishable with death; but such a provision is not found in the Law. No special mention is made of

(a) child murder;

(b) parricide; or

(c) taking life by poison;

but the intention of the law is clear with reference to all these eases (Ex 21:15,17; 1Ti 1:9; Mt 15:4). No punishment is mentioned for attempted suicide (compare 1Sa 31:4 f; 1Ki 16:18; Mt 27:5); yet Josephus says (BJ, III, viii, 5) that suicide was held criminal by the Jews (see also Ex 21:23). An animal known to be vicious must be confined, and if it caused the death of anyone, the animal was destroyed and the owner held guilty of murder (Ex 21:29,31). The executioner, according to the terms of the Law, was the "revenger of blood"; but the guilt must be previously determined by the Levitical tribunal. Strong protection was given by the requirement that at least two witnesses must concur in any capital question (Nu 35:19-30; De 17:6-12; 19:12,17). Under the monarchy the duty of executing justice on a murderer seems to have been assumed to some extent by the sovereign, who also had power to grant pardon (2Sa 13:39; 14:7,11; 1Ki 2:34).

See MANSLAYER.

Frank E. Hirsch

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Homicide (with malice), assassination, manslaughter. II. v. a. 1. Kill (with malice), assassinate, massacre, put to death. 2. Kill cruelly, slay. 3. Destroy, put an end to. 4. Abuse, violate grossly, mar, spoil.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

He looked like God's revenge against murder; he looked angrily.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, abolish, annihilate, asphyxiate, assassinate, assassination, be all thumbs, behead, blood, bloodshed, bloody murder, blot out, blunder, blunder away, blunder into, blunder on, blunder upon, boggle, botch, bumble, bump off, bumping-off, bungle, butcher, butchery, carnage, commit a gaffe, cool, decapitate, decimation, destroy, do in, dust off, electrocute, eliminate, elimination, eradicate, eradication, execute, exterminate, extermination, extinguish, faux pas, finish, flounder, foul play, fratricide, fumble, garrote, genocide, get rid of, guillotine, hang, homicide, ice, infanticide, kill, killing, knock off, lay low, liquidate, liquidation, lumber, lynch, mangle, manslaughter, mar, massacre, matricide, miscue, muddle, muff, murdering, mutilate, parricide, patricide, play havoc with, polish off, purge, purging, put away, put down, put to death, regicide, removal, remove, root out, rub out, ruin, scrag, slaughter, slay, slaying, slip, smother, snuff out, sororicide, spoil, strangle, stumble, thuggee, thuggery, thuggism, trip, uproot, uxoricide, waste, wipe out, wiping out, wreck