/ kɪl; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
1.
to make sb/sth die :
[ vn ]
Cancer kills thousands of people every year.
Three people were killed in the crash.
He tried to kill himself with sleeping pills.
I bought a spray to kill the weeds.
( informal )
My mother will kill me (= be very angry with me) when she finds out.
Don't kill yourself trying to get the work done by tomorrow. It can wait.
[ v ]
Tiredness while driving can kill.
2.
[ vn ] to destroy or spoil sth or make it stop :
to kill a rumour
Do you agree that television kills conversation?
The defeat last night killed the team's chances of qualifying.
3.
( informal ) (usually used in the progressive tenses and not used in the passive) to cause sb pain or suffering :
[ vn ]
My feet are killing me.
[also vn to inf ]
4.
[ vn ] ( NAmE ) to make sb laugh a lot :
Stop it! You're killing me!
•
IDIOMS
- kill the goose that lays the golden egg / eggs
- kill or cure
- kill time | kill an hour, a couple of hours, etc.
- kill two birds with one stone
- kill sb/sth with kindness
- kill yourself laughing
—more at curiosity , dressed , look noun , time noun
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- kill sb/sth off
■ noun [ usually sing. ]
1.
an act of killing, especially when an animal is hunted or killed :
A cat often plays with a mouse before the kill.
The plane prepared to move in for the kill .
I was in at the kill when she finally lost her job (= present at the end of an unpleasant process) .
2.
an animal that has been hunted and killed :
lions feeding on their kill
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense strike, beat , also put to death ): probably of Germanic origin and related to quell . The noun originally denoted a stroke or blow.