kill off
Also found in: Thesaurus, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
kill 1
(kĭl)v. killed, kill·ing, kills
v.tr.
1.
a. To put to death: Who killed Julius Caesar?
b. To deprive of life: Smallpox killed millions of people in the 1900s.
2. To put an end to; extinguish: The rain killed our plans for a picnic.
3.
a. To destroy a vitally essential quality in: Too much garlic killed the taste of the meat.
b. To cause to cease operating; turn off: killed the motor.
c. To tire out completely; exhaust: "The trip to work, and the boredom and nervousness of jobs, kills men" (Jimmy Breslin).
4. To pass (time) in aimless activity: killed a few hours before the flight by sightseeing.
5. To consume entirely; finish off: kill a bottle of brandy.
6. Sports To prevent the opposing team from scoring on a power play during (a penalty), as in ice hockey.
7. To cause extreme pain or discomfort to: My shoes are killing me.
8. To mark for deletion; rule out: killed the story.
9. To thwart passage of; veto: kill a congressional bill.
10. Informal To overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration: The outstanding finale killed the audience.
11. Sports
a. To hit (a ball) with great force.
b. To hit (a ball) with such force as to make a return impossible, as in volleyball.
v.intr.
1. To cause death or extinction; be fatal.
2. Informal To make such a strong impression as to overcome: dress to kill.
3. Informal To be very painful or uncomfortable.
n.
Phrasal Verb: 1. The act of killing.
2.
a. An animal killed, especially in hunting.
b. A person killed or to be killed: "Infantrymen ... had seen too many kills suddenly get up and run away or shoot at them as they approached" (Nelson DeMille).
c. An event in which large numbers of individuals are killed: a fish kill.
d. The act of attacking and destroying an enemy aircraft, vessel, or missile.
3. Sports In games such as volleyball and tennis, a shot that is so forcefully hit that it cannot be returned.
kill off
Idiom: To destroy in large numbers, often to the point of extinction.
in at/on the kill
Present at the moment of triumph.
kill 2
(kĭl)[Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. |  kill off - kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many; "Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and homosexuals of Europe"kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
يُفْني، يَقْضي على
udrydde
gera út af viî
hepsini öldürmekneslini kurutmak
w>kill off
vt sep
→ vernichten, töten; whole race → ausrotten, vernichten; cows, pigs, elephants → abschlachten; infection → abtöten; weeds → vertilgen; character in TV series → sterben lassen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
kill
(kil) verb to cause the death of. He killed the rats with poison; The outbreak of typhoid killed many people; The flat tyre killed our hopes of getting home before midnight.
noun an act of killing. The hunter was determined to make a kill before returning to the camp.
ˈkiller noun a person, animal etc that kills. There is a killer somewhere in the village; (also adjective) a killer disease.
kill off to destroy completely. So many deer have been shot that the species has almost been killed off.
kill time to find something to do to use up spare time. I'm just killing time until I hear whether I've got a job or not.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.