kill
Meaning
-
- To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
- To render inoperative.
- To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.
- To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.
- To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.
- To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.
- To use up or to waste.
- (informal) To exert an overwhelming effect on.
- To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.
- To force a company out of business.
- (informal) To produce intense pain.
- (informal) To punish severely.
- 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.
- To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.
- To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
- (informal) To cause to assume the value zero.
- To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
- To deadmelt.
- (slang) To sexually penetrate in a skillful way.
- (informal) To exert oneself to an excessive degree.
Synonyms
turn off
extirpate
shoot dead
make the final blow
stab to death
belt down
cut off power
bolt down
kill with poison
drink down
quiten
rase
rid of
set aright
shoot to death
be broken
cut the throat of
cut to ribbons
cut wood
dash to pieces
lay waste to
make dirty
make vanish
pierce through
skin an animal
starve to death
take one’s life
vote against
smear with blood
without intention
make string
take a life
break the neck
commit regicide
end one’s life
make die
fade down
thump out
take life
destroy completely
dying-out
knock rotten
kill statement
slay shoot
manslaughter
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/kɪl/
Etymology
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”).
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