kill

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitive

   To make a person, animal, or plant stop living, whether on purpose or by accident.

   Grammar: Takes an object: the frost killed the roses.

   Patterns

   • kill someone
   • kill something
   • kill yourself

   The farmer had to kill the sick chicken before it infected the others.

   Heavy frost killed most of the tomato plants overnight.

   Doctors say the infection could kill a child with a weak immune system.

2. 2verbtransitiveinformal

   To put an end to something, such as a plan, a process, or a feeling, so that it no longer continues.

   Grammar: Takes an object that is an idea, process or feeling: kill the project.

   Patterns

   • kill something
   • kill the mood

   The board voted to kill the proposal before it reached the public.

   Her sarcastic comment killed the mood at dinner.

   Please kill the lights when you leave the room.

3. 3verbtransitiveinformal

   To use up spare time by doing something that is not very important while you wait.

   Grammar: Almost always used in the fixed pattern kill time.

   Patterns

   • kill time
   • kill an hour

   We killed an hour in the bookstore while the rain stopped.

   He played games on his phone to kill time at the airport.

4. 4verbtransitiveinformalhumorous

   To cause someone strong pain or discomfort, or to be very annoyed or upset with them; used in exaggerated everyday speech.

   Grammar: Often used in hyperbole: my feet are killing me.

   Patterns

   • something is killing me
   • be killing someone

   These new shoes are killing me, so I'm taking them off.

   My back is killing me after moving all those boxes.

   If you tell Mom about the dent, she'll kill me.

Word forms

Common combinations

kill time

I walked around the mall to kill time before the movie.

kill off

The writers decided to kill off the main character in the final season.

kill the engine

She killed the engine and listened for the strange noise.

kill a rumor

The company issued a statement to kill the rumor.

kill germs

This spray claims to kill germs on kitchen counters.

Synonyms and how they differ

slay

Slay is literary or dramatic and mostly appears in stories about monsters and battles, whereas kill is the neutral everyday word.

murder

Murder means to kill a person deliberately and unlawfully, so it is narrower and carries a criminal meaning that kill does not.

destroy

Destroy suggests complete ruin of things as well as living beings, while kill mainly concerns ending life or ending a process.

terminate

Terminate is a formal or technical word for ending something, and it sounds cold when used about living things.

Opposites

Word family

killer noun

a person, animal or thing that causes death

killing noun

an act of causing someone's death

painkiller noun

a medicine that reduces pain

killjoy noun

a person who spoils other people's fun

Commonly confused: kill or murder?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “kill”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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