kill

verb
UK: /kɪl/
US: /kɪl/

  1. To cause the death of a person, animal, or plant.

    1. He will kill the bug with a shoe quickly. [ ] [ ]
    2. The frost killed all the plants in the garden last night during cold weather. [ ] [ ]

  2. To end or destroy something such as a feeling or relationship.

    1. He tried to kill the pain with some medicine. [ ] [ ]
    2. Her unkind words killed the joy I felt about the prize that I won. [ ] [ ]

  3. To stop something from continuing or developing.

    1. Let's kill the engine before going into the store. [ ] [ ]
    2. The new regulations effectively killed the project before it could start. [ ] [ ]

  4. To spend time doing something uninteresting.

    1. I need to kill some time before the meeting starts. [ ] [ ]
    2. We had to kill an hour at the airport because our flight was delayed. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

destroy execute eliminate assassinate slaughter finish murder slay end
kill noun

  1. The act of killing.

    1. The kill was fast, with no suffering at all. [ ] [ ]
    2. The lion made a kill and dragged it into the bushes to eat. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "kill" in English means: To cause the death of a person, animal, or plant., To end or destroy something such as a feeling or relationship., To stop something from continuing or developing., To spend time doing something uninteresting..

The phonetic transcription of "kill" is /kɪl/ in British English and /kɪl/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "kill": destroy, execute, eliminate, assassinate, slaughter, finish, murder, slay, end.

Example usage of "kill": "He will kill the bug with a shoe quickly.". More examples on the page.