kill
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- enPR: kĭl, IPA(key): /kɪl/
- (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): [kʰɪɫ]
- (l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): [kʰɪo̯], [kʰɪʊ̯]
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪl
Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English killen, kyllen, cüllen (“to strike, beat, cut”), of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots kele, keil (“to kill”).
- Perhaps from 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”), Middle High German kellen (“to torment; torture”).
Verb
[edit]kill (third-person singular simple present kills, present participle killing, simple past and past participle killed)
- (transitive) To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
- Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and drugs combined.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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:
- 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 : […]
- 2021, Francis A. Boyle, World Politics, Human Rights, and International Law, page 9:
- Indeed, referring to his drone murder extermination campaign Obama bragged: "I'm really good at killing people!" Those are Obama's own words!
- (transitive) To render inoperative.
- He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting.
- 1965 February, Worlds of If, page 33, column 1:
- He killed the motor.
- 1978, John Farris, The Fury:
- 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.
- (transitive, figuratively) To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.
- The editor decided to kill the story.
- 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.
- 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 244:
- 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.
- (transitive, figuratively, hyperbolic) To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.
- That night, she was dressed to kill.
- That joke always kills me.
- 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 23:
- 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.
- (transitive, figuratively, hyperbolic) To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.
- These tight shoes are killing my feet.
- 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 110:
- 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.
- (transitive, figuratively) To 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.
- 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.
- (transitive) To use up or to waste.
- I'm just doing this to kill time.
- 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:
- 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.
- (transitive, figuratively, informal) To exert an overwhelming effect on.
- Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate anymore.
- (transitive, figuratively, hyperbolic) To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.
- The team had absolutely killed their traditional rivals, and the local sports bars were raucous with celebrations.
- (transitive) To force a company out of business.
- (intransitive, informal, hyperbolic) To produce intense pain.
- You don't ever want to get rabies. The doctor will have to give you multiple shots and they really kill.
- (figuratively, informal, hyperbolic, transitive) To punish severely.
- My parents are going to kill me!
- 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:
- "Father will kill us for this."
- (transitive, sports) 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.
- 2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, “Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC[1]:
- 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.
- (transitive, sports) To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.
- 2015 May 10, Nathan Schmook, “Billings vs Bont”, in St Kilda Football Club[2]:
- 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.
- To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
- (mathematics, transitive, informal) To cause to assume the value zero.
- (computing, Internet, IRC, transitive) To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
- (metallurgy) To deadmelt.
- (slang) To sexually penetrate in a skillful way.
- 1992, Ice Cube (lyrics and music), “It Was A Good Day”, in The Predator:
- I felt on her big fat fanny/Pulled out the jammy and killed the punanni
- (reflexive, informal) To exert oneself to an excessive degree.
- Don't kill yourself raking the leaves now; we're due for a windstorm tonight.
Conjugation
[edit]infinitive | (to) kill | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | kill | killed | |
2nd-person singular | kill, killest† | killed, killedst† | |
3rd-person singular | kills, killeth† | killed | |
plural | kill | ||
subjunctive | kill | killed | |
imperative | kill | — | |
participles | killing | killed |
Synonyms
[edit]- (to put to death): assassinate, bump off, dispatch, ice, knock off, liquidate, murder, rub out, slaughter, slay, top, whack
- (to use up or waste): fritter away, while away
- (to render inoperative): break, deactivate, disable, turn off
- (to exert an overwhelming effect on): annihilate (informal)
- (to exert oneself to an excessive degree): bust one's ass (vulgar, slang)
- See also Thesaurus:kill
Hyponyms
[edit]Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
[edit]kill (plural kills)
- The act of killing.
- The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives.
- Specifically, the death blow.
- The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head.
- The result of killing; that which has been killed.
- The fox dragged its kill back to its den.
- 1895 November, Rudyard Kipling, The Second Jungle Book, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:
- If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride.
- (volleyball) The grounding of the ball on the opponent's court, winning the rally.
- 2011, the 34th Catawba College Sports Hall of Fame, in Catawba College's Campus Magazine, Spring/Summer 2011, page 21:
- 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:
Hyponyms
[edit]Translations
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Etymology 2
[edit]Borrowing from Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille, from Old Dutch *killa, from Proto-West Germanic *killjā, from Proto-Germanic *kiljǭ.
Noun
[edit]kill (plural kills)
- (New York) A creek; a body of water; 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.
- Schuylkill, Catskill, etc.
Translations
[edit]Etymology 3
[edit]Noun
[edit]kill (plural kills)
- (rare) Alternative form of kiln
- 1878, Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt, The Ceramic Art of Great Britain from Pre-historic Times Down to the Present Day, page 39:
- 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.
- 1945, Arthur Edwin James, The Potters and Potteries of Chester County, Pennsylvania, page 34:
- The stack of one of the pottery kills is still a visible land mark of this once thriving industry.
- 1951, Bulletin - Eastern States Archeological Federation, page 11:
- A funerary ceremony comparable to that reported from Kolomoki site is indicated, though no "pottery kill” was located.
- 2000, Argo - Volume 43, Issue 1, page 59:
- 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.
- 2015, Kirilka Stavreva, Words Like Daggers, page 77:
- 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.”
Derived terms
[edit]- all-kill
- bottom kill
- care killed a cat
- care killed the cat
- catch and kill
- crack kills
- crowd-kill
- curiosity killed the cat
- double kill
- dressed to kill
- dress to kill
- drill and kill
- eat what you kill
- fill or kill
- fish kill
- fit to kill
- giant-killing
- go for the kill
- hard kill
- hit-to-kill
- if looks could kill
- I kill you later
- in for the kill
- kill bit
- killbox
- kill box
- kill-buck
- kill-calf
- kill chain
- kill cord
- kill-courtesy
- kill-cow
- kill-death ratio
- kill-deer
- kill-devil
- kill devil
- Kill Devil Hills
- killed in action
- killer
- kill fee
- kill file
- kill for
- kill house
- killing
- killing field
- killing floor
- killing spree
- killing time
- kill it
- kill it with fire
- kill-joy
- killjoy
- kill me
- kill-me-quick
- kill-off
- kill off
- kill one's darlings
- kill oneself
- kill-priest
- kill screen
- kill shelter
- kill shot
- killshot
- kill someone dead
- kill steal
- kill stealer
- killstreak
- kill switch
- kill team
- kill-the-beggar
- kill the fatted calf
- kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
- kill the messenger
- kill the rabbit
- kill time
- kill-time
- kill-to-death ratio
- kill two birds with one stone
- kill with kindness
- kill-worthy
- kill your heroes
- kill your idols
- kill zone
- marry fuck kill
- mercy-killing
- mercy killing
- no-kill shelter
- non-killing
- one turn kill
- penalty kill
- photo kill
- seckill
- self-kill
- self-killed
- self-killing
- serial kill
- soft kill
- spawn-kill
- spawn kill
- stack-upon-the-kill
- stack-upo'-the-kill
- static kill
- surplus killing
- that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger
- time to kill
- top kill
- twin killing
- what doesn't kill you makes you stronger
- window-kill
- winter-kill
- winter kill
- winter-killed
- would it kill someone
- you're killing me, Smalls
Cahuilla
[edit]Adverb
[edit]kíll
- Not
Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Sranan Tongo kel (“guy, dude”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Noun
[edit]kill m (plural kills, diminutive killie n)
- (Netherlands, slang) guy, dude
- 2023 February 15, Prof. Soortkill, “Alles is ontworpen, maar niet alles is designer [Everything is designed, but not everything is 'designer']”, in NRC Handelsblad[5], retrieved 11 August 2023:
- Die kill draagt geeneens designer dan wil hij me komen chanten, wats met hem!?
- That guy doesn't even wear designer clothes, still he wants to flirt with me, what's wrong with him?
German
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]kill
Livonian
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Proto-Finnic *külvädäk. Cognate with Finnish kylvää.
Alternative forms
[edit]- (Courland) killõ
Verb
[edit]kill
Etymology 2
[edit]From Proto-Finnic *kolat'ak. Cognate with Estonian kõlama.
Alternative forms
[edit]- (Courland) ki'llõ
Verb
[edit]kill
Luxembourgish
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle High German küel, from Old High German kuoli, from Proto-West Germanic *kōl(ī), from Proto-Germanic *kōlaz.
Cognate with German kühl, English cool, Dutch koel, Low German kool.
Adjective
[edit]kill (masculine killen, neuter killt, comparative méi kill, superlative am killsten)
Declension
[edit]number and gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | hien ass kill | si ass kill | et ass kill | si si(nn) kill | |
nominative / accusative |
attributive and/or after determiner | killen | kill | killt | kill |
independent without determiner | killes | killer | |||
dative | after any declined word | killen | killer | killen | killen |
as first declined word | killem | killem |
Related terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Verb
[edit]kill
Ter Sami
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Samic *kielë.
Noun
[edit]kill
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages[6], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪl
- Rhymes:English/ɪl/1 syllable
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
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- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English lemmas
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- English transitive verbs
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- English terms with quotations
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- English intransitive verbs
- en:Sports
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- English slang
- English reflexive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Military
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- English terms with collocations
- en:Volleyball
- English terms borrowed from Dutch
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- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
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- New York English
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Death
- en:Landforms
- en:Murder
- en:Violence
- Cahuilla lemmas
- Cahuilla adverbs
- Dutch terms borrowed from Sranan Tongo
- Dutch terms derived from Sranan Tongo
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- Netherlands Dutch
- Dutch slang
- Dutch terms with quotations
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- Rhymes:German/ɪl
- Rhymes:German/ɪl/1 syllable
- German non-lemma forms
- German verb forms
- German colloquialisms
- Livonian terms inherited from Proto-Finnic
- Livonian terms derived from Proto-Finnic
- Livonian lemmas
- Livonian verbs
- Luxembourgish 1-syllable words
- Luxembourgish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Luxembourgish/il
- Rhymes:Luxembourgish/il/1 syllable
- Luxembourgish terms inherited from Middle High German
- Luxembourgish terms derived from Middle High German
- Luxembourgish terms derived from Old High German
- Luxembourgish terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Luxembourgish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Luxembourgish lemmas
- Luxembourgish adjectives
- Luxembourgish non-lemma forms
- Luxembourgish verb forms
- Ter Sami terms inherited from Proto-Samic
- Ter Sami terms derived from Proto-Samic
- Ter Sami lemmas
- Ter Sami nouns