Dictionary entry details
• KILL (noun)
Meaning:
The act of terminating a life
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
kill; putting to death; killing
Hypernyms ("kill" is a kind of...):
conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "kill"):
coup de grace; deathblow (the blow that kills (usually mercifully))
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)
Meaning:
The destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
the pilot reported two kills during the mission
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)
• KILL (verb)
Meaning:
Cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context examples:
This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank / The farmer killed a pig for the holidays
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)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "kill"):
impale; stake (kill by piercing with a spear or sharp pole)
behead; decapitate; decollate (cut the head of)
strangle; strangulate; throttle (kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air)
asphyxiate; smother; suffocate (deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing)
exterminate; kill off (kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many)
do in; knock off; liquidate; neutralise; neutralize; waste (get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing)
put away; put to sleep (kill gently, as with an injection)
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)
brain (kill by smashing someone's skull)
overlay; overlie (kill by lying on)
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)
saber; sabre (kill with a saber)
destroy (put to death)
tomahawk (kill with a tomahawk)
take off (prove fatal)
sacrifice (kill or destroy)
vaporize; zap (kill with or as if with a burst of gunfire or electric current or as if by shooting)
dispatch (kill without delay)
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)
Meaning:
Thwart the passage of
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
vote down; vote out; defeat; kill; shoot down
Context examples:
kill a motion / he shot down the student's proposal
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
blackball; negative; veto (vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Cause the death of, without intention
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
She was killed in the collision of three cars
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "kill"):
electrocute (kill by electric shock)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s somebody
Meaning:
End or extinguish by forceful means
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
stamp out; kill
Context example:
Stamp out poverty!
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
end; terminate (bring to an end or halt)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Be fatal
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Context examples:
cigarettes kill / drunken driving kills
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
Meaning:
Be the source of great pain for
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Context example:
These new shoes are killing me!
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
ache; hurt; suffer (feel physical pain)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Context example:
The comedian was so funny, he was killing me!
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
Meaning:
Hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
She killed the ball
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
hit (cause to move by striking)
Domain category:
athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Hit with great force
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
He killed the ball
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
hit (cause to move by striking)
Domain category:
athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Deprive of life
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
AIDS has killed thousands in Africa
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
Meaning:
Drink down entirely
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Synonyms:
belt down; bolt down; down; drink down; pour down; toss off; pop; kill
Context examples:
He downed three martinis before dinner / She killed a bottle of brandy that night / They popped a few beer after work
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
drink; imbibe (take in liquids)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Mark for deletion, rub off, or erase
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
obliterate; wipe out; kill
Context example:
kill these lines in the President's speech
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
take away; take out (take out or remove)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Tire out completely
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
The daily stress of her work is killing her
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
beat; exhaust; tucker; tucker out; wash up (wear out completely)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s somebody
Meaning:
Cause to cease operating
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
kill the engine
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
cut; switch off; turn off; turn out (cause to stop operating by disengaging a switch)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Destroy a vitally essential quality of or in
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
Eating artichokes kills the taste of all other foods
Hypernyms (to "kill" is one way to...):
destroy; destruct (do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
