kill

1. verb

1)

gangs killed twenty-seven people

Syn:

murder, take/end the life of, assassinate, eliminate, terminate, dispatch, finish off, put to death, execute; slaughter, butcher, massacre, wipe out, annihilate, exterminate, mow down, shoot down, cut down, cut to pieces; informal bump off, polish off, do away with, do in, knock off, take out, croak, stiff, blow away, liquidate, dispose of, ice, snuff, rub out, waste, whack, smoke; euphemistic neutralize; literary slay

2)

this would kill all hopes of progress

Syn:

destroy, put an end to, end, extinguish, dash, quash, ruin, wreck, shatter, smash, crush, scotch, thwart; informal put the kibosh on, stymie, scuttle

3)

we had to kill several hours at the airport

Syn:

while away, fill (up), occupy, pass, spend, waste

4) informal

you must rest or you'll kill yourself

Syn:

exhaust, wear out, tire out, overtax, overtire, fatigue, weary, sap, drain, enervate, knock out

5) informal

my feet were killing me

Syn:

hurt, cause pain to, torture, torment, cause discomfort to; be painful, be sore, be uncomfortable

6)

a shot to kill the pain

Syn:

alleviate, assuage, soothe, allay, dull, blunt, deaden, stifle, suppress, subdue

7) informal

an opposition attempt to kill the bill

Syn:

veto, defeat, vote down, rule against, reject, throw out, overrule, overturn, put a stop to, quash, squash

8) informal

Noel killed the engine

Syn:

turn off, switch off, stop, shut off/down, cut

2. noun

1)

the hunter's kill

Syn:

prey, quarry, victim, bag

2)

the wolf was moving in for the kill

Syn:

death blow, killing, dispatch, finish, end, coup de grâce

••

kill, assassinate, dispatch, execute, massacre, murder, slaughter, slay

When it comes to depriving someone or something of life, the options are seemingly endless. To kill is the most general term, meaning to cause the death of a person, animal, or plant, with no reference to the manner of killing, the agent, or the cause (killed in a car accident). Even inanimate things may be killed (Congress killed the project when they vetoed the bill). To slay is to kill deliberately and violently; it is used more often in written than in spoken English (a novel about a presidential candidate who is slain by his opponent). Murder implies a malicious and premeditated killing of one person by another (a gruesome murder carried out by the son-in-law), while assassinate implies that a politically important person has been murdered, often by someone hired to do the job (assassinate the head of the guerilla forces). Someone who is put to death by a legal or military process is said to be executed (execute by lethal injection), but if someone is killed primarily to get rid or him or her, the appropriate verb is dispatch, which also suggests speed or promptness (after delivering the secret documents, the informer was dispatched). While slaughter is usually associated with the killing of animals for food, it can also apply to a mass killing of humans (the slaughter of innocent civilians provoked a worldwide outcry). Massacre also refers to the brutal murder of large numbers of people, but it is used more specifically to indicate the wholesale destruction of a relatively defenseless group of people (the massacre of Bethlehem's male children by King Herod).