I. mur ‧ der 1 S3 W2 /ˈmɜːdə $ ˈmɜːrdər/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ murder , ↑ murderer ; verb : ↑ murder ; adverb : ↑ murderously ; adjective : ↑ murderous ]
[ Origin: Partly from Old English morthor , partly from Old French murdre ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] the crime of deliberately killing someone ⇨ manslaughter :
On the night the murder was committed, he was out of the country.
The man accused of her murder will appear in court today.
murder of
the brutal murder of a child
He was found guilty of attempted murder.
She was charged with two counts of first degree murder.
The mother of the murder victim wept in court.
Police are searching for the murder weapon.
Detectives have launched a murder investigation.
2 . get away with murder informal to do anything you want, even things that are wrong, without being punished:
She lets those kids get away with murder.
3 . be murder spoken to be very difficult or unpleasant:
It’s murder doing the shopping on Saturdays.
The traffic was murder this morning.
4 . be murder on something spoken to harm or damage something else:
These new shoes are murder on my feet.
⇨ scream blue murder at ↑ scream 1 (1)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ commit (a) murder (=murder someone)
Whoever had committed these murders had planned them carefully.
▪ be guilty of murder
They had wished him dead, but that did not make them guilty of murder.
▪ accuse somebody of murder (=say that you think someone murdered a person)
Dillon was accused of both murders.
▪ deny murder (=say that you did not kill someone)
The four accused men all deny murder.
▪ charge somebody with murder (=officially say that someone may be guilty of murder)
Is there enough evidence to charge him with murder?
▪ investigate a murder
The police are investigating the murder of a homeless man.
▪ solve a murder (=find out who murdered someone)
The murder has never been solved.
■ adjectives
▪ a brutal/horrific murder (=violent and cruel)
He is wanted for the brutal murder of a young girl.
▪ cold-blooded murder (=not caused by strong emotions)
He didn’t kill his wife in a moment of anger; it was cold-blooded murder.
▪ premeditated murder (=planned before it happens)
He was charged with premeditated murder.
▪ an unsolved murder (=for which the killer has never been found)
Police questioned the man about two unsolved murders.
▪ attempted murder (=the crime of trying to kill someone)
I am arresting you for attempted murder.
▪ first-degree murder ( also murder in the first degree ) American English (=the most serious type of murder under U.S. law)
If convicted of first-degree murder, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
▪ mass murder (=of a large number of people)
Hitler was responsible for the largest mass murder in history.
■ murder + NOUN
▪ a murder victim (=someone who has been murdered)
The family of the murder victim pleaded for information to find the killer.
▪ a murder weapon (=the gun, knife etc used to murder someone)
Have they found the murder weapon?
▪ a murder scene (=where a murder happened)
His blood matched the blood found at the murder scene.
▪ a murder investigation
A murder investigation is underway after a woman’s body was found in a tunnel.
▪ a murder charge (=an official statement saying someone may be guilty of murder)
He has escaped a murder charge, but his career is finished.
■ phrases
▪ a motive for murder (=a reason to kill someone)
Police believe the motive for the murders was robbery.
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THESAURUS
■ violent crimes
▪ assault noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of physically attacking someone:
He was arrested for an assault on a policeman.
▪ mugging noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of attacking and robbing someone in a public place:
Muggings usually happen at night.
▪ murder noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of deliberately killing someone:
He is accused of the murder of five women.
▪ homicide noun [uncountable and countable] especially American English law murder:
Homicide rates are rising fastest amongst 15 to19-year-olds.
▪ rape noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of forcing someone to have sex:
In most cases of rape, the victim knows her attacker.
II. murder 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ murder , ↑ murderer ; verb : ↑ murder ; adverb : ↑ murderously ; adjective : ↑ murderous ]
1 . to kill someone deliberately and illegally:
He was convicted of murdering a policeman.
Thousands of civilians were brutally murdered during the civil war.
the murdered man
2 . informal to spoil a song, play etc by performing it very badly:
It’s a good song, but they murdered it.
3 . somebody will murder you spoken used to tell someone that another person will be very angry with them:
Your dad’ll murder you when he hears about it.
4 . I could murder a beer/pizza etc British English spoken used to say that you are very hungry or thirsty and want a particular food or drink
5 . informal to defeat someone completely:
They murdered us in the final.
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THESAURUS
▪ kill to make someone die:
The driver and his passenger were killed in the crash.
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He was killed by rival gang members.
▪ murder to deliberately kill someone – used when talking about this as a crime:
He was convicted of murdering his wife.
▪ commit manslaughter to kill someone without intending to – used when talking about this as a crime:
The court ruled that the guard had committed manslaughter.
▪ assassinate to deliberately kill an important person, especially a politician:
He was part of a plot to assassinate Hitler.
▪ slay to kill someone or something in a violent way – used in newspaper reports and also in old stories:
Two teenagers were slain in the shootings.
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St. George slew the dragon.
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The king was slain at the battle of Hastings.
▪ execute formal ( also put somebody to death ) to kill someone as a punishment for a crime:
McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a bombing attack, was executed by lethal injection.
▪ eliminate to kill someone in order to prevent them from causing trouble:
a ruthless dictator who eliminated all his rivals
▪ take somebody out informal to kill someone in order to get rid of them, especially an enemy or someone who is causing trouble for you:
US forces used air strikes to take out the enemy positions.
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One of the other drug dealers may have decided to take him out.
▪ bump somebody off humorous informal to kill someone:
He was so irritating I felt like bumping him off myself.
▪ do away with somebody informal to kill someone:
The settlers in Jamestown had been done away with, but no one knew how.