Meaning & use
fill or kill
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounfinance
Describing a trading order that must be carried out immediately and in full, or else be cancelled entirely.
Grammar: Used before order: a fill or kill order.
Patterns
- a fill or kill order
The trader placed a fill or kill order for ten thousand shares.
Because it was a fill or kill order, nothing was left on the market when it failed.
Fill or kill instructions suit buyers who need the whole quantity at once.
Common combinations
- a fill or kill order
- A fill or kill order was sent to the exchange.
- place a fill or kill order
- She placed a fill or kill order.
- submit a fill or kill order
- The fund submitted a fill or kill order.
- fill or kill instruction
- The broker followed the fill or kill instruction.
Synonyms and how they differ
- all-or-none order
- This also requires the full quantity but may stay open until filled, while fill or kill must be done immediately.
- immediate or cancel
- This allows partial completion, while fill or kill demands the whole order.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fill or kill or immediate or cancel?
fill or kill vs immediate or cancel
Immediate or cancel lets part of the order go through, while fill or kill only accepts the full amount.
Practice
A fill or kill order for 500 shares can only find 300 shares at the price. What happens?
Choose one answer.
Fill or kill requires the full amount at once. If it is not possible, the order is cancelled, so partial filling does not happen.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fill or kill”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.