I. kill ‧ er 1 /ˈkɪlə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ kill , ↑ overkill , ↑ killer , ↑ killing ; verb : ↑ kill ; adjective : ↑ killer ]
1 . a person, animal, or thing that kills:
Heart disease is America’s number one killer.
the hunt for her killers
weed killer
⇨ serial killer at ↑ serial 2 (1)
2 . informal something or someone that is very difficult, tiring, or boring:
The new project is a killer.
3 . informal something that is very exciting or impressive:
I’m not saying the film is a killer, but it’s cool.
II. killer 2 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ kill , ↑ overkill , ↑ killer , ↑ killing ; verb : ↑ kill ; adjective : ↑ killer ]
1 . very harmful or dangerous:
a killer hurricane
a swarm of killer bees
2 . informal very attractive, good, impressive etc:
a book called ‘How to Build a Killer Website’
3 . killer instinct a very strong desire to succeed in a situation or activity etc that is very competitive:
Young players these days lack the killer instinct.