kill
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: kĭl
ipa: /kɪl/
ipa: [kʰɪɫ]
note: l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand
ipa: [kʰɪo̯]
note: l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand
ipa: [kʰɪʊ̯]
rhymes: -ɪl
Forms: form: kills
form: killing
form: killed
form: killed
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: kill
form: kill
form: killed
form: kill
form: killest
form: killed
form: killedst
form: kills
form: killeth
form: killed
form: kill
form: killed
form: kill
form: killed
form: kill
form: -
form: killing
form: killed
form: k1ll
Etymology: From Middle English killen, kyllen, cüllen (“to strike, beat, cut”), of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots kele, keil (“to kill”).
* Perhaps from unattested Old English *cyllan, from Proto-West Germanic *kwulljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwuljaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to throw, hit, hurt by throwing”).
* Or, possibly a variant of Old English cwellan (“to kill, murder, execute”) (see quell).
* Or, from Old Norse kolla (“to hit on the head, harm”), related to Norwegian kylla (“to poll”), Middle Dutch kollen (“to knock down”), Icelandic kollur (“top, head”); see also coll, cole).
Compare also Saterland Frisian källe (“to hurt”), Middle Dutch kellen (“to kill, hurt”), Middle Low German kellen, killen (“to ache strongly, cause one great pain”) (whence German Low German kellen, killen (“to hurt, injure, torment, vex”)), Middle High German kellen (“to torment; torture”).
Senses: examples: text: Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and hard drugs combined.
text: A Troope of Horſe with Felt: Ile put't in proofe, / And when I haue ſtolne vpon theſe Son in Lawes, / Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi], page 304:
text: Stephano: Monſter, I will kill this man : his daughter and I will be King and Queene, ſave our Graces : and Trinculo and thy ſelfe ſhall be Vice-royes : […]
ref: 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 12:
text: Fire ants circumvented the problem of an ineffective sting by having an unusual and highly effective venom that when daubed or sprayed on other ants penetrates their waxy protective integumental barrier and kills or disables them.
ref: 2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 102:
text: Indeed, referring to his drone murder extermination campaign Obama bragged: "I'm really good at killing people!" Those are Obama's own words!
ref: 2021, Francis A. Boyle, World Politics, Human Rights, and International Law, page 9:
text: As the country reckons with how to prevent more children from being killed at school, the legacies of the Parkland victims live on.
ref: 2023 February 14, Holly Yan, “5 years after the Parkland school massacre claimed 17 lives, here’s what has changed (and what hasn’t)”, in CNN:
text: After all, improving road safety has become a widely endorsed cause because nobody wants to kill, or be killed, in a road accident.
ref: 2024 September 16, Stéphane Foucart, 'To reduce their environmental impact, why not simply regulate the weight of cars?', Le Monde:
text: In announcing the review, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new health secretary, said in a statement that “antisemitism — like racism — is a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues.”
ref: 2025 March 4, Sharon Otterman, “Trump Threatens Columbia With Millions in Cuts Over Antisemitism Claims”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2025:
glosses: To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
examples: text: He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting.
text: He killed the motor.
ref: 1965 February 23, Worlds of If, page 33, column 1:
text: Peter: Ask Childers if it was worth his arm.
Policeman: What did you do to his arm, Peter?
Peter: I killed it, with a machine gun.
ref: 1978, John Farris, The Fury:
glosses: To render inoperative.
examples: text: The editor decided to kill the story.
text: The news that a hurricane had destroyed our beach house killed our plans to sell it.
text: My computer wouldn't respond until I killed some of the running processes.
text: He closed the boot, walked round to the kerbside and bent to peer into the car's interior, his face pressed to the passenger window, his hands shading his eyes to kill the reflection.
ref: 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 244:
glosses: To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.
examples: text: That night, she was dressed to kill.
text: That joke always kills me.
text: He told us we ought to think of Jesus as our buddy and all. He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving his car. That killed me.
ref: 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 23:
glosses: To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.
examples: text: These tight shoes are killing my feet.
text: You don't ever want to get rabies. The doctor will have to give you multiple shots and they really kill.
text: two laps into our first walk, my dad needed to sit down. His back and legs were killing him. "You'll be okay," I assured him. "You just need to shake off the rust."
I gave him a couple of Advil and, after a few minutes, urged him back onto the track.
ref: 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 110:
glosses: To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.
examples: text: It kills me to throw out three whole turkeys, but I can't get anyone to take them and they've already started to go bad.
text: It kills me to learn how many poor people are practically starving in this country while rich moguls spend such outrageous amounts on useless luxuries.
text: And I really don't think you get it now
No, I really don't think you get it now
It's killing me, I admit it now
Congratulations, you tore my heart out
Congratulations
ref: 2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Jon Levine, Scott Jacoby, “Congratulations”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten:
glosses: To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.
examples: text: I'm just doing this to kill time.
text: Except for the shirt, which he’d worn, and the check, which he’d cashed, and the bottle of port, which he’d killed in bed on Christmas night, the gifts from his family were still on the floor of his bedroom.
ref: 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:
glosses: To use up or to waste.
examples: text: Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate.
text: The team had absolutely killed their traditional rivals, and the local sports bars were raucous with celebrations.
glosses: To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.
glosses: To force a company out of business.
examples: text: My parents are going to kill me!
text: "Father will kill us for this."
ref: 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
glosses: To punish severely.
examples: text: That close call encouraged Wales to launch another series of attacks that ended when lock Louis Deacon killed the ball illegally in the shadow of England's posts.
ref: 2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, “Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To strike (a ball, etc.) with such force and placement as to make a shot that is impossible to defend against, usually winning a point.
examples: text: As the ball was delivered deep into St Kilda's forward line by Billings, Bontempelli had position on the goal line, with a pack forming in front of him. He decided to fly but didn't kill the ball, leaving it to spill where he had been positioned moments earlier. Jack Sinclair gratefully swooped and kicked a goal that cut the margin to five points.
ref: 2015 May 10, Nathan Schmook, “Billings vs Bont”, in St Kilda Football Club:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.
examples: text: When comics fail, they "die"; when they succeed, they "kill."
ref: 2012, Yael Kohen, We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy:
text: You really killed it at the Comedy Store last night.
ref: 2016 February 23, Tim Gray, “Chris Rock Tests Jokes at Comedy Clubs Ahead of Oscars”, in Variety:
glosses: To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: To cause to assume the value zero.
topics: IRC
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
topics: engineering
metallurgy
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To deadmelt.
examples: text: I felt on her big fat fanny
Pulled out the jammy and killed the punanni
ref: 1992, Ice Cube, “It Was A Good Day”, in The Predator:
glosses: To sexually penetrate in a skillful way.
examples: text: Don't kill yourself raking the leaves now; we're due for a windstorm tonight.
glosses: To exert oneself to an excessive degree.
Synonyms: sense: to put to death
word: assassinate
sense: to put to death
word: bump off
sense: to put to death
word: dispatch
sense: to put to death
word: drill
sense: to put to death
word: ice
sense: to put to death
word: knock off
sense: to put to death
word: liquidate
sense: to put to death
word: murder
sense: to put to death
word: murk
sense: to put to death
word: rub out
sense: to put to death
word: slaughter
sense: to put to death
word: slay
sense: to put to death
word: smoke
sense: to put to death
word: top
sense: to put to death
word: whack
sense: to put to death
word: claim
sense: to use up or waste
word: fritter away
sense: to use up or waste
word: while away
sense: to render inoperative
word: break
sense: to render inoperative
word: deactivate
sense: to render inoperative
word: disable
sense: to render inoperative
word: turn off
sense: to exert an overwhelming effect on
word: annihilate
sense: to exert oneself to an excessive degree
word: bust one's ass
word: bag
word: baptize
word: bereave of life
word: blight
word: bring down
word: bury
word: cack
word: compromised to a permanent end
word: croak
word: crush
word: dash
word: dead
word: demolish
word: destroy
word: dispose of
word: do
word: do in
word: dust
word: eliminate
word: end
word: eradicate
word: ex
word: exterminate
word: finish
word: finish off
word: flatten
word: grease
word: lay waste to
word: make away with
word: mortify
word: neutralize
word: obliterate
word: off
word: pay off
word: pick off
word: polish off
word: pop off
word: punch someone's ticket
word: put an end to
word: put down
word: put someone out of their misery
word: put six feet under
word: put to sleep
word: ravage
word: ruin
word: scotch
word: scupper
word: scuttle
word: send to eternity
word: send to hell
word: send to the grave
word: send to the great beyond
word: send to the next life
word: smash
word: smite
word: snuff
word: squash
word: stiff
word: stop someone's clock
word: take
word: terminate
word: terminate with extreme prejudice
word: top off
word: torpedo
word: take care of
word: take down
word: take out
word: waste
word: wax
word: wet
word: wipe out
word: wreck
Hyponyms: word: cull
word: instakill
word: instant kill
word: assassinate
word: burke
word: do away with
word: duppy
word: hit
word: ice
word: liquidate
word: murder
word: settle
word: execute
word: put to death
word: drown
word: dunk
word: send to a watery grave
word: dangle
word: hang
word: lynch
word: swing
word: scrag
word: string up
word: send to the gallows
word: throw a necktie party
word: trine
word: choke
word: garrote
word: garrotte
word: strangle
word: throttle
word: asphyxiate
word: smother
word: stifle
word: suffocate
word: crucify
word: blast
word: blow a hole in
word: blow away
word: blow apart
word: blow to kingdom come
word: blow up
word: cap
word: fusillade
word: gun down
word: light up
word: mow down
word: plug
word: put a bullet in
word: pump full of lead
word: put before a firing squad
word: shoot
word: shoot down
word: smoke
word: zip
word: burn
word: fire
word: flame
word: immolate
word: scorch
word: defenestrate
word: disembowel
word: dismember
word: draw and quarter
word: eviscerate
word: jugulate
word: gut
word: rip up
word: tear up
word: tear apart
word: tear limb from limb
word: vivisect
word: behead
word: decapitate
word: guillotine
word: lop head off
word: put on the block
word: bayonet
word: impale
word: knife
word: put to the sword
word: run through
word: saber
word: stab
word: electrocute
word: fry
word: send to the chair
word: lapidate
word: stone
word: suicide
word: suicided
word: butcher
word: cut down
word: euthanize
word: massacre
word: pull the plug on
word: send to an early grave
word: send to the iron maiden
Related terms: word: die
word: killer
word: killing