slay
Part of speech: verb
adj
noun
intj
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English sleen, slen, from Old English slēan (“to hit, punch, strike; to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *slahan, from Proto-Germanic *slahaną (“to hit, strike; to kill”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, strike, throw”).
Cognates
Cognate with Alemannic German schlaa (“to beat, hit”), Central Franconian schlage, schlon, schloon (“to beat, hit, strike”), Dutch and Low German slaan (“to beat, hit, strike”), German schlagen, schlahen, schlahn (“to beat, hit, strike”), Luxembourgish schloen (“to beat, defeat, hit”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish slå (“to beat, hit, strike”), Faroese sláa (“to beat, strike”), Icelandic slá (“to hit, strike”), Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (slahan, “to hit, smite, strike”). Related to slaughter, onslaught.
Inflected forms:
form: slays
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: slaying
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: slew
pos: verb
tags: past
form: slayed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: slain
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: slayed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: yslain
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
participle
past
form: more slay
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most slay
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: slays
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To kill; to murder.
pos: verb
tags: literary
transitive
examples: The knight slew the dragon.
Our foes must all be slain.
In the meane time it chaunced, that Marcus Papyrius ſtroke one of the Galles on the heade with his ſtaffe, because he preſumed to ſtroke his bearde: with whiche iniurie the Gaulle beeing prouoked, ſlue Papyrius (as he ſate) with hys ſworde, and therewith the ſlaughter being begun with one, all the reſidue of thoſe auncient fatherly men as they ſat in theyr Chayres were ſlaine and cruelly murthered.
The Prince of Morocco:
[…]By this scimitar,
That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince
That won three fields of Sultan Solyman,
I would outstare the sternest eyes that look,
Outbrave the heart most daring on earth,
Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear,
Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey,
To win thee, lady. […]
Slay not your children, fearing a fall to poverty, We shall provide for them and for you. Lo! the slaying of them is great sin.
"This is a graph of the death rate from infectious disease in this country. The heroes of my field have slain one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. While the heroes of your field gathered in the desert to create a new one."
gloss: To eradicate or stamp out.
pos: verb
tags: literary
transitive
examples: You must slay these thoughts.
gloss: To defeat; to overcome (in a competition or contest).
pos: verb
tags: broadly
excessive
informal
transitive
examples: The Yankees were actually slayed by two former Yankees because Rich Gossage pitched one scoreless inning in relief of Eckersley to notch his first victory.
gloss: To delight or overwhelm, especially with laughter.
pos: verb
tags: slang
transitive
examples: Ha ha! You slay me!
He snapped his fingers contemptuously at the alarm clock. "I fear thee not, thou ticking tyrant." "You slay me," grinned Cedric.
gloss: To amaze, stun, or otherwise incapacitate by excellence; to excel at something.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
examples: Your outfit slays!
Movie buffs will love this costume from Beetlejuice. And even if you don't have someone to double team this look with, each costume can easily slay on its own.
gloss: To have sex with.
pos: verb
tags: slang
gloss: That slays (in any sense).
pos: adj
gloss: Something excellent, amazing, or fashionable.
pos: noun
examples: Equally effervescent was EmRata [Emily Ratajkowski] in 2001 Versace; meanwhile Zendaya, clothed in a 1996 John Galliano for Givenchy gown that could rival Queen Victoria’s regal mourning robes, was a slay for the ages.
“Let’s work it out on a remix” can be applied to many situations. It’s a public truce under the guise of a joint slay. A bride is making unreasonable demands of her wedding party and the maid of honor might quit? They should work it out on a remix (establish a budget).
gloss: Used to express approval or amazement.
pos: intj
examples: Despite its dismal performance at the box office, Jennifer’s Body has become a cult favourite – particularly amongst queer women. The horror-comedy stars Megan Fox as a cheerleader who becomes possessed by a succubus – a demon who seduces men, kills them and devours their flesh etc. Slay!
Related words: onslaught
slaughter
self-slaughter
Derived words: foreslay
hack-and-slay
reslay
slayable
slayage
slayee
slayer
slay queen
slay someone in the Spirit
Translations: