Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons.
- v. To destroy or injure treacherously: assassinate a rival's character.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To kill or attempt to kill by surprise or secret assault; murder by sudden or treacherous violence.
- To assault; maltreat.
- Figuratively, to blight or destroy treacherously; overthrow by foul or unfair means: as, to assassinate a person's character or reputation. Synonyms Slay, Murder, etc. See
kill . - To commit murder by assassination.
- n. Assassination; murderous assault.
- n. An assassin.
Wiktionary
- v. To murder someone, especially an important person, by a sudden or obscure attack, especially for ideological or political reasons.
- v. To harm, ruin, or defame severely or destroy by treachery, slander, libel, or obscure attack.
- n. Assassination, murder.
- n. An assassin.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To kill by surprise or secret assault; to murder by treacherous violence.
- v. To assail with murderous intent; hence, by extended meaning, to maltreat exceedingly.
- n. An assassination, murder, or murderous assault.
- n. An assassin.
WordNet 3.0
- v. murder; especially of socially prominent persons
- v. destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation
Examples
“In my hypo, the power to assassinate is constrained by the preference for atrial.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Opinio Juris Discussions of Targeting of US Citizen
“CLANCY: All right, so Pat Robertson there saying he didn't use the word assassinate, but you did hear that in the other clip.”
“You think it's accurate to use the word assassinate in what the - Regardless of the heavy criticism, doesn't it diminish real assassinations when you throw up the word assassinate because Sarah Palin didn't like some of the questions she got in an interview?”
“I doubt that any of them could spell the word assassinate, yet they were recycling hate learned from their parents.”
“In his later negotiations with the CIA, he refused to use the word assassinate; he preferred eliminate.”
“Only the word "assassinate" is too hard to speak and spell for RealAmericans, so they'll just talk about "shooting" Obama.”
“Well, as Jon Stewart pointed out last night, Robertson used "assassinate" as a verb and not a noun.”
Steven G. Brant: Pat Robertson: Love means never having to say you're sorry
“At National Security Council meetings, officials never use the word "assassinate" or explicitly discuss targeting individuals, according to a knowledgeable source.”
“Some people and/or institutions may have attempted to "assassinate" Kabaka's character following the shooting, but it is also true that some people consider a recitation of Kabaka's actions equals character assassination.”
“Hamadi, also makes a thinly veiled reference to the opposition being "enemies of the Comoran nation," waiting only for an opportunity to grab power and "assassinate" the country.”
Lists
‘assassinate’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
dlarson Twice the ass in ONE WORD! May 10, 2007