kill someone dead

verb

To murder someone and ensure that they are dead.

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Meanings

verbkill someone dead (third-person singular simple present kills someone dead, present participle killing someone dead, simple past and past participle killed someone dead)

present singular third person kills someone dead · participle present killing someone dead · participle past killed someone dead · past killed someone dead

  1. USdialectalTo murder someone and ensure that they are dead.

    You don't understand, do you Hassan? It's not the Saudis who own all this oil of Ghawar. It's the Americans who own it. And if you try to take it away from them, they will kill you dead like they killed Saddam Hussein dead.

    2005, George P. Matheos, Mirages of the Rub Al-Khali

Origin

Possibly derived from the phrase shoot someone dead.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

kill someone dead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kill%20someone%20dead

MLA

“kill someone dead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kill%20someone%20dead. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kill someone dead,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kill%20someone%20dead.

Source: kill someone dead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.