killing

[kil-ing] /ˈkɪl ɪŋ/
noun
1.
the act of a person or thing that kills.
2.
the total game killed on a hunt.
3.
a quick and unusually large profit or financial gain:
a killing in the stock market.
adjective
4.
that kills.
5.
exhausting:
a killing pace.
6.
Informal. irresistibly funny.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English (gerund); see kill1, -ing1, -ing2
Related forms
killingly, adverb
self-killing, adjective
unkilling, adjective

kill1

[kil] /kɪl/
verb (used with object)
1.
to deprive of life in any manner; cause the death of; slay.
Synonyms: slaughter, massacre, butcher; hang, electrocute, behead, guillotine, strangle, garrote; assassinate.
2.
to destroy; do away with; extinguish:
His response killed our hopes.
3.
to destroy or neutralize the active qualities of:
to kill an odor.
4.
to spoil the effect of:
His extra brushwork killed the painting.
5.
to cause (time) to be consumed with seeming rapidity or with a minimum of boredom, especially by engaging in some easy activity or amusement of passing interest:
I had to kill three hours before plane time.
6.
to spend (time) unprofitably:
He killed ten good years on that job.
7.
Informal. to overcome completely or with irresistible effect:
That comedian kills me.
8.
to muffle or deaden:
This carpet kills the sound of footsteps.
9.
Informal. to cause distress or discomfort to:
These new shoes are killing me.
10.
Informal. to tire completely; exhaust:
The long hike killed us.
11.
Informal. to consume completely:
They killed a bottle of bourbon between them.
12.
to cancel publication of (a word, paragraph, item, etc.), especially after it has been set in type.
13.
to defeat or veto (a legislative bill, etc.).
14.
Electricity. to render (a circuit) dead.
15.
to stop the operation of (machinery, engines, etc.):
He killed the motor and the car stopped.
16.
Tennis. to hit (a ball) with such force that its return is impossible.
17.
Metallurgy.
  1. to deoxidize (steel) before teeming into an ingot mold.
  2. to eliminate springiness from (wire or the like).
  3. to cold-roll (sheet metal) after final heat treatment in order to eliminate distortion.
18.
Ice Hockey. to prevent the opposing team from scoring in the course of (a penalty being served by a teammate or teammates).
verb (used without object)
19.
to inflict or cause death.
20.
to commit murder.
21.
to be killed.
22.
to overcome completely; produce an irresistible effect:
dressed to kill.
23.
Slang. to feel a smarting pain, as from a minor accident; sting:
I stubbed my little toe and that really kills.
noun
24.
the act of killing, especially game:
The hounds moved in for the kill.
25.
an animal or animals killed.
26.
a number or quantity killed.
27.
an act or instance of hitting or destroying a target, especially an enemy aircraft.
28.
the target so hit or, especially, destroyed.
29.
Sports. kill shot.
Verb phrases
30.
kill off,
  1. to destroy completely; kill, especially successively or indiscriminately:
    The invaders killed off all the inhabitants of the town.
  2. Informal. to extinguish; eliminate:
    The bus ride every day kills off all of my energy.
Idioms
31.
kill with kindness, to overdo in one's efforts to be kind:
The aunts would kill their nephews and nieces with kindness.
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English cullen, killen to strike, beat, kill, Old English *cyllan; cognate with dialectal German küllen (Westphalian). See quell
Related forms
killable, adjective
self-killed, adjective
unkilled, adjective
Synonym Study
1. Kill, execute, murder all mean to deprive of life. Kill is the general word, with no implication of the manner of killing, the agent or cause, or the nature of what is killed (whether human being, animal, or plant): to kill a person. Execute is used with reference to the putting to death of one in accordance with a legal sentence, no matter what the means are: to execute a criminal. Murder is used of killing a human being unlawfully: He murdered him for his money.
Examples from the web for killing
  • On our lower gun-deck two large pieces had burst at the first fire, killing all around and blowing up overhead.
  • New research aims to stop turbines from killing bats and birds.
  • After killing a large number of people, he disappeared without a trace.
  • As a result, lakes and streams quickly became acidic, killing fish and other aquatic animals.
  • The commissioner has repeatedly stated he will not resign over the killing.
  • The prison recidivism and aging prisoner rates are killing our state.
  • Students seem to think the proposed lottery would have justified the killing.
  • It's understandable since they are killing themselves to make tenure and it should have some perks.
  • He received a ten-year sentence for killing a rare animal, plus another two years for possessing an illegal firearm.
  • We are slowly killing our world through experimentation and ill thought plans.
British Dictionary definitions for killing

killing

/ˈkɪlɪŋ/
adjective
1.
(informal) very tiring; exhausting: a killing pace
2.
(informal) extremely funny; hilarious
3.
causing death; fatal
noun
4.
the act of causing death; slaying
5.
(informal) a sudden stroke of success, usually financial, as in speculations on the stock market (esp in the phrase make a killing)
Derived Forms
killingly, adverb

kill1

/kɪl/
verb (mainly transitive)
1.
(also intr; when transitive, sometimes foll by off) to cause the death of (a person or animal)
2.
to put an end to; destroy: to kill someone's interest
3.
to make (time) pass quickly, esp while waiting for something
4.
to deaden (sound)
5.
(informal) to tire out; exhaust: the effort killed him
6.
(informal) to cause to suffer pain or discomfort: my shoes are killing me
7.
(informal) to cancel, cut, or delete: to kill three lines of text
8.
(informal) to quash, defeat, or veto: the bill was killed in the House of Lords
9.
(informal) to switch off; stop: to kill a motor
10.
(also intransitive) (informal) to overcome with attraction, laughter, surprise, etc: she was dressed to kill, his gags kill me
11.
(slang) to consume (alcoholic drink) entirely: he killed three bottles of rum
12.
(sport) to hit (a ball) so hard or so accurately that the opponent cannot return it
13.
(soccer) to bring (a moving ball) under control; trap
14.
(informal) kill oneself, to overexert oneself: don't kill yourself
15.
kill two birds with one stone, to achieve two results with one action
noun
16.
the act of causing death, esp at the end of a hunt, bullfight, etc
17.
the animal or animals killed during a hunt
18.
(NZ) the seasonal tally of stock slaughtered at a freezing works
19.
the destruction of a battleship, tank, etc
20.
in at the kill, present at the end or climax of some undertaking
Word Origin
C13 cullen; perhaps related to Old English cwellan to kill; compare German (Westphalian dialect) küllen; see quell

kill2

/kɪl/
noun
1.
(US) a channel, stream, or river (chiefly as part of place names)
Word Origin
C17: from Middle Dutch kille; compare Old Norse kīll small bay, creek
Word Origin and History for killing
adj.

mid-15c., present participle adjective from kill (v.). Meaning "very funny" is from 1844. As a noun, "large profit," 1886, American English slang.

kill

v.

c.1200, "to strike, hit, beat, knock;" c.1300, "to deprive of life," perhaps from an unrecorded variant of Old English cwellan "to kill" (see quell), but the earliest sense suggests otherwise. Sense in to kill time is from 1728. Related: Killed; killing. Kill-devil, colloquial for "rum," especially if new or of bad quality, is from 1630s.

n.

early 13c., "a stroke, a blow," from kill (v.). Meaning "act of killing" is from 1814; that of "a killed animal" is from 1878. Lawn tennis serve sense is from 1903. The kill "the knockout" is boxing jargon, 1950.

"stream," 1630s, American English, from Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille "riverbed," especially in place names (e.g. Schuylkill). A common Germanic word, the Old Norse form, kill, meant "bay, gulf" and gave its name to Kiel Fjord on the German Baltic coast and thence to Kiel, the port city founded there in 1240.

Slang definitions & phrases for killing

killing

adjective

Excellent; fresh, great, killer, way rad: And good things are known as ''rad, tough, booming, legit, fly, kill, killing, chilling, fresh or nasty''

Related Terms

make a killing

[1980s+ Teenagers; the sense ''fascinating, bewitching, irresistible'' is found by 1619, but the current use is an independent phenomenon rather than a survival]


kill

noun
  1. A murder: for the Shannon kill (1930s+)
  2. An enemy airplane, ship, tank, etc, destroyed (WWII armed forces)
verb
  1. To drink or eat up: The lady killed a dozen oysters (1833+)
  2. To spoil or ruin: One bad grade killed his chances for med school (1573+)
  3. To demoralize totally; make hopeless: The third defeat killed him (1940s+)
  4. To be extremely successful with: The Evergreen Review kills him (1899+)
  5. To make an audience helpless with laughter; fracture: My McEnroe act kills 'em (1856+)
  6. To do very easily; ace: I killed the geology final (1900+ Students)
  7. To eliminate a newspaper story or part of it (1865+)
  8. To extinguish a light (1934+)
  9. To stop or turn off a motor (1886+)
Related Terms

in at the kill, killer


Idioms and Phrases with killing

kill

also see: