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kill
transitive verb1 a: to deprive of life : cause the death of b
(1): to slaughter (as a hog) for food
(2): to convert a food animal into (a kind of meat) by slaughtering2 a: to put an end to <kill competition> b: defeat
, veto <killed the amendment> c: to mark for omission
; also : delete d: annihilate
, destroy <kill an enemy>3 a: to destroy the vital or essential quality of <killed the pain with drugs> b: to cause to stop <kill the motor> c: to check the flow of current through4: to make a markedly favorable impression on <she killed the audience>5: to get through uneventfully <kill time>
; also : to get through (the time of a penalty) without being scored on <kill a penalty>6 a: to cause extreme pain to b: to tire almost to the point of collapse7: to hit (a shot) so hard in various games that a return is impossible8: to consume (as a drink) totallyintransitive verb1: to deprive one of life2: to make a markedly favorable impression <was dressed to kill>
synonyms kill
, slay
, murder
, assassinate
, dispatch
, execute mean to deprive of life. kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner <killed in an accident> <frost killed the plants>. slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive <slew thousands of the Philistines>. murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility <convicted of murdering a rival>. assassinate applies to deliberate killing openly or secretly often for political motives <terrorists assassinated the Senator>. dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death <dispatched the sentry with one bullet>. execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty <executed by lethal gas>.
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