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KILL
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile
Example:
the pilot reported two kills during the mission
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
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 2
Meaning:
The act of terminating a life
Synonyms:
kill; killing; putting to death
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("kill" is a kind of...):
conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "kill"):
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))
death (the act of killing)
coup de grace; deathblow (the blow that kills (usually mercifully))
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 3
Meaning:
The body of an animal, or bodies of animals, killed by a person or another animal
Classified under:
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)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they kill ... he / she / it kills
Past simple: killed
Past participle: killed
-ing form: killing
Sense 1
Meaning:
End or extinguish by forceful means
Example:
Stamp out poverty!
Synonyms:
kill; stamp out
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
end; terminate (bring to an end or halt)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 2
Meaning:
Destroy a vitally essential quality of or in
Example:
Eating artichokes kills the taste of all other foods
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
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
Sense 3
Meaning:
Cause to cease operating
Example:
kill the engine
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
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 (tire out completely)
kill (destroy a vitally essential quality of or in)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
kill (the destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Tire out completely
Example:
The daily stress of her work is killing her
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
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 5
Meaning:
Mark for deletion, rub off, or erase
Example:
kill these lines in the President's speech
Synonyms:
kill; obliterate; wipe out
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
take away; take out (take out or remove)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 6
Meaning:
Drink down entirely
Example:
They popped a few beer after work
Synonyms:
belt down; bolt down; down; drink down; kill; pop; pour down; toss off
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
drink; imbibe (take in liquids)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 7
Meaning:
Cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
Example:
The farmer killed a pig for the holidays
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
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"):
brain (kill by smashing someone's skull)
put away; put to sleep (kill gently, as with an injection)
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)
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)
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)
sacrifice (kill or destroy)
take off (prove fatal)
tomahawk (kill with a tomahawk)
destroy; put down (put (an animal) to death)
saber; sabre (kill with a saber)
overlay; overlie (kill by lying on)
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:
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)
killable (fit to kill, especially for food)
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 8
Meaning:
Cause the death of, without intention
Example:
She was killed in the collision of three cars
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
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 9
Meaning:
Deprive of life
Example:
AIDS has killed thousands in Africa
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
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:
Hit with great force
Example:
He killed the ball
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
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 11
Meaning:
Hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games
Example:
She killed the ball
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
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 12
Meaning:
Overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration
Example:
The comedian was so funny, he was killing me!
Classified under:
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 13
Meaning:
Be the source of great pain for
Example:
These new shoes are killing me!
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
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 14
Meaning:
Thwart the passage of
Example:
he shot down the student's proposal
Synonyms:
defeat; kill; shoot down; vote down; vote out
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
blackball; negative; veto (vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 15
Meaning:
Be fatal
Example:
drunken driving kills
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
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)
Context examples:
It may make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy, improve tumor images using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and kill cancer cells.
(Motexafin gadolinium, NCI Dictionary)
"Well, then, I shall kill you," Martin said.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Mustargen damages the cell's DNA and may kill cancer cells.
(Mustargen, NCI Dictionary)
And now here's Mr. Bennet gone away, and I know he will fight Wickham, wherever he meets him and then he will be killed, and what is to become of us all?
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
A-beefin’ and bellerin’ ’round, as though he’d kill you when he gets you! You know damn well he wont. Can’t afford to.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
“You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must know that already,” I replied.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Think, dear, that there have been times when brave men have killed their wives and their womenkind, to keep them from falling into the hands of the enemy.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Macrophages surround and kill microorganisms, ingest foreign material, remove dead cells, and boost immune responses.
(Monocyte, NCI Dictionary)
In cancer treatment, substances that kill cancer cells by targeting key molecules involved in cancer cell growth.
(Molecularly targeted therapy, NCI Dictionary)
Organic compounds and particular matter released when burning forests to clear land for agriculture can kill human lung cells or lead to irreversible damage to DNA, according to a new study.
(Lung damage from agricultural fires probed, SciDev.Net)
