What does "kill" mean?
The act of killing.
Kill
/kɪl/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of killing.
- Grammar: kill is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: obliterate, wipe out, abbreviate, aborted.
- Useful contrasts: cultured, animate organism, begin.
- Usage evidence: I'd be unhappy, but I wouldn't kill myself.
How to use "kill"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "kill" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "kill" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "kill" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "kill" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "kill" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "obliterate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "kill", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of killing.
"The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives."
- 2 A creek; a body of water; a channel or arm of the sea. New-York
"The channel beyond Staten Island, which connects Newark Bay with Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills."
- 3 Alternative form of kiln. alt-of, alternative, rare
"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."
- 4 the destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile wordnet
- 5 Specifically, the death blow.
"The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 the act of terminating a life wordnet
- 7 The result of killing; that which has been killed.
"The fox dragged its kill back to its den."
- 8 the body of an animal, or bodies of animals, killed by a person or another animal wordnet
- 9 An instance of killing; a score on the tally of enemy personnel or vehicles killed or destroyed. countable
"confirmed kills"
- 10 The grounding of the ball on the opponent's court, winning the rally.
"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."
Verb
- 1 To put to death; to extinguish the life of. transitive
"Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and hard drugs combined."
- 2 end or extinguish by forceful means wordnet
- 3 To render inoperative. transitive
"He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting."
- 4 destroy a vitally essential quality of or in wordnet
- 5 To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate. figuratively, transitive
"The editor decided to kill the story."
Show 27 more definitions
- 6 cause to cease operating wordnet
- 7 To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate. excessive, figuratively, transitive
"That night, she was dressed to kill."
- 8 tire out completely wordnet
- 9 To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt. excessive, figuratively, intransitive, transitive
"These tight shoes are killing my feet."
- 10 mark for deletion, rub off, or erase wordnet
- 11 To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in. figuratively, transitive
"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."
- 12 drink down entirely wordnet
- 13 To use up or to waste. transitive
"I'm just doing this to kill time."
- 14 cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly wordnet
- 15 To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat. figuratively, informal, transitive
"Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate."
- 16 cause the death of, without intention wordnet
- 17 To force a company out of business. transitive
- 18 deprive of life wordnet
- 19 To punish severely. excessive, figuratively, informal, transitive
"My parents are going to kill me!"
- 20 hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games wordnet
- 21 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. transitive
"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."
- 22 overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration wordnet
- 23 To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay. transitive
"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."
- 24 be the source of great pain for wordnet
- 25 To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
"When comics fail, they "die"; when they succeed, they "kill.""
- 26 thwart the passage of wordnet
- 27 To cause to assume the value zero. informal, transitive
- 28 be fatal wordnet
- 29 To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network. Internet, transitive
- 30 To deadmelt.
- 31 To sexually penetrate in a skillful way. slang
"I felt on her big fat fanny Pulled out the jammy and killed the punanni"
- 32 To exert oneself to an excessive degree. informal, reflexive
"Don't kill yourself raking the leaves now; we're due for a windstorm tonight."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I'd be unhappy, but I wouldn't kill myself."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "kill"?
Common synonyms include: obliterate, wipe out, abbreviate, aborted, abridge, absorb.
How do you use "kill" in a sentence?
I'd be unhappy, but I wouldn't kill myself.
How do you pronounce "kill"?
Pronounced /kɪl/.
Etymology
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.
Etymology 3
* As a German and Dutch surname, probably shortened from Kilian. * Also as a German surname, from Kyll in the Eifel mountains, from Latin Celbis. * As a Jewish surname, probably from Yiddish קיל (kil, “cool”).