kill

Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and hard drugs combined.

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.

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:

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 : […]

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:

Fire ants circumvented the problem of an ineffective sting by having an unusual and highly effective venom that when daubed or sprayed on other ants penetrates their waxy protective integumental barrier and kills or disables them.

2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 102:

Indeed, referring to his drone murder extermination campaign Obama bragged: "I'm really good at killing people!" Those are Obama's own words!

2021, Francis A. Boyle, World Politics, Human Rights, and International Law, page 9:

After all, improving road safety has become a widely endorsed cause because nobody wants to kill, or be killed, in a road accident.

2024 September 16, Stéphane Foucart, 'To reduce their environmental impact, why not simply regulate the weight of cars?', Le Monde:

In announcing the review, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new health secretary, said in a statement that “antisemitism — like racism — is a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues.”

2025 March 4, Sharon Otterman, “Trump Threatens Columbia With Millions in Cuts Over Antisemitism Claims”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2025-03-12:

(transitive) To put to death; to extinguish the life of.

To put to death; to extinguish the life of.

He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting.

He killed the motor.

1965 February 28, Worlds of If, page 33, column 1:

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.

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.

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.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 244:

(transitive, figuratively) To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.

To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.

That night, she was dressed to kill.

That joke always kills me.

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.

1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 23:

(transitive, figuratively, hyperbolic) To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.

To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.

These tight shoes are killing my feet.

You don't ever want to get rabies. The doctor will have to give you multiple shots and they really kill.

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.

2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 110:

(transitive or intransitive, figuratively, hyperbolic) To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.

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.

And I really don't think you get it now
No, I really don't think you get it now
It's killing me, I admit it now
Congratulations, you tore my heart out
Congratulations

2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Jon Levine, Scott Jacoby, “Congratulations”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten:

(transitive, figuratively) To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.

I'm just doing this to kill time.

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.

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate.

The team had absolutely killed their traditional rivals, and the local sports bars were raucous with celebrations.

(transitive, figuratively, informal) To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.

(transitive) To force a company out of business.

My parents are going to kill me!

"Father will kill us for this."

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:

(figuratively, informal, hyperbolic, transitive) To punish severely.

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.

2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, “Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC:

(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.

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.

2015 May 10, Nathan Schmook, “Billings vs Bont”, in St Kilda Football Club:

(transitive, sports) To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.

When comics fail, they "die"; when they succeed, they "kill."

2012, Yael Kohen, We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy:

You really killed it at the Comedy Store last night.

2016 February 23, Tim Gray, “Chris Rock Tests Jokes at Comedy Clubs Ahead of Oscars”, in Variety:

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.

I felt on her big fat fanny
Pulled out the jammy and killed the punanni

1992, Ice Cube, “It Was A Good Day”, in The Predator:

(slang) To sexually penetrate in a skillful way.

To sexually penetrate in a skillful way.

Don't kill yourself raking the leaves now; we're due for a windstorm tonight.

(reflexive, informal) To exert oneself to an excessive degree.

To exert oneself to an excessive degree.

en-verb

kill (third-person singular simple present kills, present participle killing, simple past and past participle killed)

kills (present singular third-person)
killing (participle present)
killed (participle past)
killed (past)
kill (infinitive)
kill (first-person present singular)
killed (first-person past singular)
kill (present second-person singular)
killest (archaic present second-person singular)
killed (past second-person singular)
killedst (archaic past second-person singular)
kills (present singular third-person)
killeth (archaic present singular third-person)
killed (past singular third-person)
kill (plural present)
killed (past plural)
kill (present subjunctive)
killed (past subjunctive)
kill (imperative present)
killing (participle present)
killed (participle past)

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”).

inh

Old English cwellan (“to kill, murder, execute”)

der

Old Norse kolla (“to hit on the head, harm”)

cog

Middle High German kellen (“to torment; torture”)

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand


kill

The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives.

The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head.

The fox dragged its kill back to its den.

If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride.

1895 November, Rudyard Kipling, The Second Jungle Book, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:

The result of killing; that which has been killed.

confirmed kills

A flying ace is usually one with five or more confirmed kills.

(military, gaming, countable) An instance of killing; a score on the tally of enemy personnel or vehicles killed or destroyed.

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

(volleyball) The grounding of the ball on the opponent's court, winning the rally.


kill

The channel beyond Staten Island, which connects Newark Bay with Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills.

Schuylkill, Catskill, etc.

(New York) A creek; a body of water; a channel or arm of the sea.

Borrowing from Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille, from Old Dutch *killa, from Proto-West Germanic *killjā, from Proto-Germanic *kiljǭ.


kill

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.

1878, Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt, The Ceramic Art of Great Britain from Pre-historic Times Down to the Present Day, page 39:

The stack of one of the pottery kills is still a visible land mark of this once thriving industry.

1945, Arthur Edwin James, The Potters and Potteries of Chester County, Pennsylvania, page 34:

A funerary ceremony comparable to that reported from Kolomoki site is indicated, though no "pottery kill” was located.

1951, Bulletin - Eastern States Archeological Federation, page 11:

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.

2000, Argo - Volume 43, Issue 1, page 59:

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.”

2015, Kirilka Stavreva, Words Like Daggers, page 77:

kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger

what doesn't kill you makes you stronger