slain

Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia.

slain

(slān)

Past participle of slay.

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.

slain

(sleɪn)

the past participle of slay

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

slay

(sleɪ)

v. slew, slain, slay•ing. v.t.

1. to kill by violence.

2. to destroy; extinguish.

3. Slang. to impress strongly; overwhelm, esp. by humor: Your jokes slay me.

4. Obs. to strike.

v.i.

5. to kill or murder.

[before 900; Middle English sleen, slayn, Old English slēan, c. Old Frisian, Old Norse slā, Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic slahan to strike]

slay′a•ble, adj.

slay′er, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	slain - people who have been slain (as in battle) dead - people who are no longer living; "they buried the dead"
Adj.	1.	slain - killed; `slain' is formal or literary as in "slain warriors"; "a picture of St. George and the slain dragon" dead - no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life; "the nerve is dead"; "a dead pallor"; "he was marked as a dead man by the assassin"

Translations

slain

[sleɪn]

A. PP of slay

B. NPL the slain → los caídos mpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

slain

[sleɪn]

1. pp of slay

2. npl (liter) the slain → i caduti

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

The closing scene reveals Jocasta slain by her own hand and Oedipus blinded by his own act and praying for death or exile.

View in context

"The grim and greedy one was soon prepared, savage and fierce, and in sleep he seized upon thirty of the thanes, and thence he again departed exulting in his prey, to go home with the carcases of the slain, to reach his own dwelling.

Grendel indeed was slain, but his mother, an ogre almost as fierce as he, was ready to avenge him.

The water-witch was slain, and rejoicing, the hero returned to Hrothgar.

View in context

Shall I myself be smelt out and slain? These Isanusis are too strong for me; they lie upon the land like the shadow of night.

We have come, O king, we have come from the caves and the rocks and the swamps, To wash in the blood of the slain; We have gathered our host from the air as vultures are gathered in war.

View in context

He may not indeed destroy the framework of the received legends--the fact, for instance, that Clytemnestra was slain by Orestes and Eriphyle by Alcmaeon but he ought to show invention of his own, and skilfully handle the traditional material.

View in context

Croiset remark, the abusive Thersites in the "Aethiopis" is clearly copied from the Thersites of the "Iliad"; in the same poem Antilochus, slain by Memnon and avenged by Achilles, is obviously modelled on Patroclus.

View in context

When her own brother slain in battle lay Unsepulchered, she suffered not his corse To lie for carrion birds and dogs to maul: Should not her name (they cry) be writ in gold?

What glory wilt thou win By slaying twice the slain? I mean thee well; Counsel's most welcome if I promise gain.

View in context

If this man can come back alive after having been sold over into Lemnos, I shall have the Trojans also whom I have slain rising from the world below.

Priam married his daughter along with many other women and two sons were born of her, both of whom you will have slain. Your spear slew noble Polydorus as he was fighting in the front ranks, and now evil will here befall me, for I fear that I shall not escape you since heaven has delivered me over to you.