ENGLISH
REFERENCE

kill

v. · n.
US //ˈkɪɫ// UK //kˈɪl// kill
  1. 1 to end a life (v.)
    A2 Elementary

    to cause the death of a person, animal, or plant.

    to cause the death of a living organism; to extinguish life. Transitive — requires a direct object.

    Example

    The cold winter weather might kill the delicate flowers in the garden.

    Example

    The predator waited patiently in the tall grass for the perfect moment to strike and kill its prey.
  2. 2 to cause pain (v.)
    B1 Intermediate Informal

    to cause someone a lot of physical pain or discomfort.

    to cause intense physical pain or distress to a person or a specific part of the body.

    Example

    My feet are killing me after walking around the city all day.

    Example

    The athlete admitted that his lower back was killing him, yet he refused to withdraw from the final race of the season.
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  1. 3 to stop or cancel (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Technical Computing

    to stop a process, turn off an engine, or cancel a plan.

    to terminate a process, render a system inoperative, or cancel a project or proposal.

    Example

    You need to kill the engine before you get out of the car.

    Example

    The lead developer had to kill the background process because it was consuming too much of the server's memory.
  2. 4 to waste time (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to spend time doing something unimportant while waiting for something else.

    to consume or pass time, typically while waiting for a scheduled event.

    Example

    We had an hour to kill before our flight, so we went to the bookshop.

    Example

    They decided to kill time by browsing the local galleries until the restaurant opened for the evening service.
  3. 5 to do something very well (v.)
    C1 Advanced Slang

    to perform exceptionally well or be very successful at something.

    to perform a task with great skill or success; often used in the context of public performance or competitive tasks.

    Example

    You totally killed that presentation; everyone was really impressed.

    Example

    The comedian was worried about the new material, but he absolutely killed it and had the entire audience laughing for an hour.
  4. 6 to work too hard (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to work so hard that you become extremely tired.

    to exert oneself to an excessive or exhausting degree; reflexive use with 'myself', 'yourself', etc.

    Example

    Don't kill yourself trying to finish the whole project in one night.

    Example

    She was killing herself with sixty-hour work weeks until her doctor insisted she take a proper holiday.
  5. 7 the act of killing (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    the act of ending a life, or the animal that has been killed.

    the act of causing death, or the resulting carcass of a hunted animal.

    Example

    The lion dragged its kill back to the shade of the trees.

    Example

    The hunters were proud of their kill, though the local community had mixed feelings about the impact on the ecosystem.
Etymology 1

From Middle English killen, kyllen, cüllen (“to strike, beat, cut”), of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots kele, keil (“to kill”). Perhaps from unattested 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”) (whence German Low German kellen, killen (“to hurt, injure, torment, vex”)), Middle High German kellen (“to torment; torture”).

Etymology 2

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

Idioms11 entries

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