kill

present singular third person kills · participle present killing · participle past killed · past killed · first person past singular killed · archaic present second person singular killest · past second person singular killed · archaic past second person singular killedst · present singular third person kills · archaic present singular third person killeth · past singular third person killed · past plural killed · past subjunctive killed · participle present killing · participle past killed · alternative k1ll

1. transitiveTo put to death; to extinguish the life of.

   Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and hard drugs combined.

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   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.

   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

   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 : […]

   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

   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.

   2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 102

   Indeed, referring to his drone murder extermination campaign Obama bragged: "I'm really good at killing people!" Those are Obama's own words!

   2021, Francis A. Boyle, World Politics, Human Rights, and International Law, page 9

   As the country reckons with how to prevent more children from being killed at school, the legacies of the Parkland victims live on.

   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

   Synonyms: assassinate, bump off, dispatch, drill, ice, knock off, liquidate, murder

2. transitiveTo render inoperative.

   He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting.

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   He killed the motor.

   1965 February 28, Worlds of If, page 33, column 1

   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.

   1978, John Farris, The Fury

   Synonyms: break, deactivate, disable, turn off

3. figurativelytransitiveTo stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.

   The editor decided to kill the story.

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   The news that a hurricane had destroyed our beach house killed our plans to sell it.

   My computer wouldn't respond until I killed some of the running processes.

   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.

   2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 244

4. excessivefigurativelytransitiveTo amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.

   That joke always kills me.

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   That night, she was dressed to kill.

   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.

   1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 23

5. excessivefigurativelyintransitivetransitiveTo cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.

   These tight shoes are killing my feet.

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   You don't ever want to get rabies. The doctor will have to give you multiple shots and they really kill.

   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.

   2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 110

6. figurativelytransitiveTo produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.

   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.

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   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.

   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

   2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Jon Levine, Scott Jacoby, “Congratulations”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten

7. transitiveTo use up or to waste.

   I'm just doing this to kill time.

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   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.

   2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections

   Synonyms: fritter away, while away

8. figurativelyinformaltransitiveTo overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.

   Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate.

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   The team had absolutely killed their traditional rivals, and the local sports bars were raucous with celebrations.

9. transitiveTo force a company out of business.
10. excessivefigurativelyinformaltransitiveTo punish severely.

    My parents are going to kill me!

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    "Father will kill us for this."

    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

11. transitivehobbiesTo strike (a ball, etc.) with such force and placement as to make a shot that is impossible to defend against, usually winning a point.

    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.

    2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, “Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC

12. transitivehobbiesTo cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.

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    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.

    2015 May 10, Nathan Schmook, “Billings vs Bont”, in St Kilda Football Club

13. To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.

    You really killed it at the Comedy Store last night.

    2016 February 23, Tim Gray, “Chris Rock Tests Jokes at Comedy Clubs Ahead of Oscars”, in Variety

    1 more example

    When comics fail, they "die"; when they succeed, they "kill."

    2012, Yael Kohen, We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy

14. informaltransitivemathematicsTo cause to assume the value zero.
15. InternettransitiveIRCTo disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
16. engineeringTo deadmelt.
17. slangTo sexually penetrate in a skillful way.

    I felt on her big fat fanny Pulled out the jammy and killed the punanni

    1992, Ice Cube, “It Was A Good Day”, in The Predator

18. informalreflexiveTo exert oneself to an excessive degree.

    Don't kill yourself raking the leaves now; we're due for a windstorm tonight.

    Synonyms: annihilate, bust one's ass

plural kills · alternative k1ll

1. The act of killing.

   The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives.

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   The blonde women were in a frenzy of excitement, their faces transformed from dull moronity to living evil; they shouted like wild animals at the kill.

   1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains, London: Digit Books, page 100

2. Specifically, the death blow.

   The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head.

3. The result of killing; that which has been killed.

   The fox dragged its kill back to its den.

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   If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride.

   1895 November, Rudyard Kipling, The Second Jungle Book, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC

4. countablegamesAn instance of killing; a score on the tally of enemy personnel or vehicles killed or destroyed.

   confirmed kills

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   A flying ace is usually one with five or more confirmed kills.

5. ball gamesThe grounding of the ball on the opponent's court, winning the rally.

   As a senior in 1993, Turner had a kill percentage of 40.8, which was a school record at the time and the best in the SAC. Turner concluded her volleyball career with 1,349 kills, ranking fifth all-time at Catawba.

   2011, the 34th Catawba College Sports Hall of Fame, in Catawba College's Campus Magazine, Spring/Summer 2011, page 21

plural kills · alternative proper noun short form Kill · alternative Kills · alternative short form 'kill

1. New YorkNortheasternUSarchaicdialectallargely fossilized in place namesA creek or stream; (more loosely) any watercourse, such as a channel or arm of the sea.

   The channel beyond Staten Island, which connects Newark Bay with Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills.

   1. New YorkNortheasternUSarchaicdialectallargely fossilized in place names; preceded by the; preceded by theIn particular, a waterway with a name ending in kill, such as the Beaverkill or the East Kill.

      We're gonna go flyfishing over in the kill.

plural kills

1. New YorkNortheasternUSalternativerareAlternative form of kiln.

   The stack of one of the pottery kills is still a visible land mark of this once thriving industry.

   1945, Arthur Edwin James, The Potters and Potteries of Chester County, Pennsylvania, page 34

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   This very curious and valuable record is as follows, in the handwriting of Conyers and the accompanying engraving is carefully reduced (see Fig. 138 ) from Conyers' own drawing:—“This kill was full of the coarser sorts of potts or cullings, so that few were saved whole, viz., lamps, bottles, urnes, dishes.

   1878, Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt, The Ceramic Art of Great Britain from Pre-historic Times Down to the Present Day, page 39

   A funerary ceremony comparable to that reported from Kolomoki site is indicated, though no "pottery kill” was located.

   1951, Bulletin - Eastern States Archeological Federation, page 11

   We may indeed assume that cracked and broken ware was discarded in the immediate vicinity of the pottery kills, that is, if it was not thrown in to the Krka.

   2000, Argo - Volume 43, Issue 1, page 59

   Admonished that she should “keep the woman's virtue and be more silent,” she countered “that she was 'born in a mill, begot in a kill, she must have her will,' she could speak no softlier.”

   2015, Kirilka Stavreva, Words Like Daggers, page 77

plural Kills

1. A surname.