KILL

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does kill mean? 

• KILL (noun)
  The noun KILL has 3 senses:

1. the act of terminating a life

2. the destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile

3. the body of an animal, or bodies of animals, killed by a person or another animal

  Familiarity information: KILL used as a noun is uncommon.

• KILL (verb)
  The verb KILL has 15 senses:

1. cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly

2. thwart the passage of

3. end or extinguish by forceful means

4. be fatal

5. be the source of great pain for

6. overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration

7. hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games

8. hit with great force

9. deprive of life

10. cause the death of, without intention

11. drink down entirely

12. mark for deletion, rub off, or erase

13. tire out completely

14. cause to cease operating

15. destroy a vitally essential quality of or in

  Familiarity information: KILL used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of terminating a life

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

kill; killing; putting to death

Hypernyms ("kill" is a kind of...):

conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "kill"):

death (the act of killing)

coup de grace; deathblow (the blow that kills (usually mercifully))

genocide; race murder; racial extermination (systematic killing of a racial or cultural group)

beheading; decapitation (killing by cutting off the head)

electrocution (killing by electric shock)

ritual killing; sacrifice (the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity)

asphyxiation; suffocation (killing by depriving of oxygen)

poisoning (the act of giving poison to a person or animal with the intent to kill)

slaughter (the killing of animals (as for food))

self-annihilation; self-destruction; suicide (the act of killing yourself)

fell (the act of felling something (as a tree))

despatch; dispatch (killing a person or animal)

homicide (the killing of a human being by another human being)

euthanasia; mercy killing (the act of killing someone painlessly (especially someone suffering from an incurable illness))

Derivation:

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

kill (cause the death of, without intention)

kill (deprive of life)

kill (be fatal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the pilot reported two kills during the mission

Hypernyms ("kill" is a kind of...):

destruction; devastation (the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists)

Derivation:

kill (cause to cease operating)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The body of an animal, or bodies of animals, killed by a person or another animal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("kill" is a kind of...):

body; dead body (a natural object consisting of a dead animal or person)

Derivation:

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

• KILL (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The farmer killed a pig for the holidays

Cause:

buy the farm; cash in one's chips; choke; conk; croak; decease; die; drop dead; exit; expire; give-up the ghost; go; kick the bucket; pass; pass away; perish; pop off; snuff it (pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life)

Verb group:

kill (cause the death of, without intention)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "kill"):

sacrifice (kill or destroy)

do in; knock off; liquidate; neutralise; neutralize; waste (get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing)

exterminate; kill off (kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many)

asphyxiate; smother; suffocate (deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing)

strangle; strangulate; throttle (kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air)

put away; put to sleep (kill gently, as with an injection)

behead; decapitate; decollate (cut the head of)

impale; stake (kill by piercing with a spear or sharp pole)

dismember (separate the limbs from the body)

martyr (kill as a martyr)

shed blood (kill violently)

bump off; dispatch; hit; murder; off; polish off; remove; slay (kill intentionally and with premeditation)

assassinate (murder; especially of socially prominent persons)

execute; put to death (kill as a means of socially sanctioned punishment)

draw; draw and quarter; quarter (pull (a person) apart with four horses tied to his extremities, so as to execute him)

lynch (kill without legal sanction)

pip; shoot (kill by firing a missile)

electrocute; fry (kill by electrocution, as in the electric chair)

overlay; overlie (kill by lying on)

annihilate; carry off; decimate; eliminate; eradicate; extinguish; wipe out (kill in large numbers)

decimate (kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies)

drown (kill by submerging in water)

massacre; mow down; slaughter (kill a large number of people indiscriminately)

erase; wipe out (remove from memory or existence)

butcher; slaughter (kill (animals) usually for food consumption)

poison (kill with poison)

lapidate; stone (kill by throwing stones at)

poison (kill by its poison)

commit suicide (kill oneself)

dispatch (kill without delay)

vaporize; zap (kill with or as if with a burst of gunfire or electric current or as if by shooting)

take off (prove fatal)

tomahawk (kill with a tomahawk)

destroy; put down (put (an animal) to death)

saber; sabre (kill with a saber)

brain (kill by smashing someone's skull)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to kill the prisoners

Also:

kill off (kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many)

Derivation:

killable (fit to kill, especially for food)

killing (an event that causes someone to die)

killing (the act of terminating a life)

killer (the causal agent resulting in death)

killer (someone who causes the death of a person or animal)

kill (the body of an animal, or bodies of animals, killed by a person or another animal)

kill (the act of terminating a life)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Thwart the passage of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

defeat; kill; shoot down; vote down; vote out

Context example:

he shot down the student's proposal

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

blackball; negative; veto (vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

End or extinguish by forceful means

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

kill; stamp out

Context example:

Stamp out poverty!

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

end; terminate (bring to an end or halt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be fatal

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

drunken driving kills

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

kill (the act of terminating a life)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be the source of great pain for

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

These new shoes are killing me!

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

ache; hurt; suffer (feel physical pain)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

killer (a difficulty that is hard to deal with)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

The comedian was so funny, he was killing me!

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

overcome; overpower; overtake; overwhelm; sweep over; whelm (overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She killed the ball

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

hit (cause to move by striking)

Verb group:

kill (hit with great force)

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Hit with great force

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

He killed the ball

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

hit (cause to move by striking)

Verb group:

kill (hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games)

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Deprive of life

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

AIDS has killed thousands in Africa

Verb group:

kill (cause the death of, without intention)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "kill"):

strike down (cause to die, especially suddenly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

kill (the act of terminating a life)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Cause the death of, without intention

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She was killed in the collision of three cars

Verb group:

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

kill (deprive of life)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "kill"):

electrocute (kill by electric shock)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

kill (the act of terminating a life)

killer (the causal agent resulting in death)

killing (an event that causes someone to die)

Sense 11

Meaning:

Drink down entirely

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

belt down; bolt down; down; drink down; kill; pop; pour down; toss off

Context example:

They popped a few beer after work

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

drink; imbibe (take in liquids)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 12

Meaning:

Mark for deletion, rub off, or erase

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

kill; obliterate; wipe out

Context example:

kill these lines in the President's speech

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

take away; take out (take out or remove)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 13

Meaning:

Tire out completely

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The daily stress of her work is killing her

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

beat; exhaust; tucker; tucker out; wash up (wear out completely)

Verb group:

kill (cause to cease operating)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 14

Meaning:

Cause to cease operating

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

kill the engine

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

cut; switch off; turn off; turn out (cause to stop operating by disengaging a switch)

Verb group:

kill (destroy a vitally essential quality of or in)

kill (tire out completely)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

kill (the destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile)

Sense 15

Meaning:

Destroy a vitally essential quality of or in

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Eating artichokes kills the taste of all other foods

Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):

destroy; destruct (do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of)

Verb group:

kill (cause to cease operating)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

And of course this is all quite a minor point compared to the question of who killed John Straker.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mustine damages the cell's DNA and may kill cancer cells.

(Mustine, NCI Dictionary)

That was how I killed him.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was not in the nature of things for a mush-plate to up- end itself on the table, even if a man or so had been killed.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Three of our boys were killed, however, before we got the swag.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cytolytic lymphocytes with the unique capacity of killing natural killer (NK)-resistant fresh tumor cells.

(Murine Lymphokine Activated Killer Cells, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

These cells do possess Fc receptors for IgG and can kill target cells using antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

(Murine Natural Killer Cells, NCI Thesaurus)

Some CD8 cells recognize and kill cancerous cells and those infected by intracellular pathogens (some bacteria, viruses and mycoplasma) and they are called cytotoxic T-lymphocytes

(Murine CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, NCI Thesaurus)

MTX stops cells from making DNA and may kill cancer cells.

(MTX, NCI Dictionary)

And therefore, in recounting the numbers of those who have been killed in battle, I cannot but think you have said the thing which is not.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)