kill

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To put to death.
2. v. To deprive of life: The Black Death was a disease that killed millions.
3. v. To put an end to; extinguish: The rain killed our plans for a picnic.
4. v. To destroy a vitally essential quality in: Too much garlic killed the taste of the meat.
5. v. To cause to cease operating; turn off: killed the motor.
6. v. To tire out completely; exhaust: "The trip to work, and the boredom and nervousness of jobs, kills men” ( Jimmy Breslin).
7. v. To pass (time) in aimless activity: killed a few hours before the flight by sightseeing.
8. v. To consume entirely; finish off: kill a bottle of brandy.
9. v. Sports To prevent a hockey team on a power play from scoring during (a penalty).
10. v. To cause extreme pain or discomfort to: My shoes are killing me.
11. v. To mark for deletion; rule out: killed the story.
12. v. To thwart passage of; veto: kill a congressional bill.
13. v. Informal To overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration: The outstanding finale killed the audience.
14. v. Sports To hit (a ball) with great force.
15. v. Sports To hit (a ball) with such force as to make a return impossible, especially in a racquet game.
16. v. To cause death or extinction; be fatal.
17. v. To commit murder.
18. v. Informal To make such a strong impression as to overcome: dress to kill.
19. n. The act of killing.
20. n. An animal killed, especially in hunting.
21. n. A person killed or to be killed: "Infantrymen . . . had seen too many kills suddenly get up and run away or shoot at them as they approached” ( Nelson DeMille).
22. n. An enemy aircraft, vessel, or missile that has been attacked and destroyed.
23. n. Sports A kill shot.
24. kill off To destroy in such large numbers as to render extinct.
25. idiom. at Present at the moment of triumph.
26. n. New York State See creek. See Regional Notes at stoop², run.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To strike, beat, cut, or stab; strike down.
2. To deprive (a human being or any animal, or, in more recent use, a vegetable) of life, by any means; put to death; slay.
3. To destroy; render wholly inactive, inefficient, etc.; deaden; quell; overpower; subdue; suppress; cancel: as, sudden showers kill the wind; a thick carpet kills the sound of footsteps.
4. To nullify or neutralize the active qualities of; deprive (a thing) of its characteristic active or useful qualities; weaken; dilute: as, to kill grain (by overheating it in the process of grinding); to kill fire-damp (to mix or dilute it with atmospheric air); to kill wire (by stretching it so as to destroy its ductility).
5. To reject; discard: as, to kill a paragraph in a report; to kill an article in type
6. Synonyms Kill, Slay, Murder, Assassinate, Slaughter, Massacre, Despatch. Kill is the general word, meaning simply to deprive of life, whether wrongfully (Ex. xx. 13), accidentally, in self-defense, in war, or by process of law. Slay is a less commonplace word with the same meaning as kill. Murder is the general word for killing wrongfully, especially with premeditation. Assassinate means to kill wrongfully by surprise, suddenly, or by secret assault. To slaughter is to kill brutally or in great numbers; massacre is more intense than slaughter, meaning to kill indiscriminately, without need or without warrant, rapidly or in great numbers. To despatch is to kill with promptness or quickness, and generally in a quiet way. Kill, slay, slaughter, and despatch may apply to ordinary and proper taking of the life of an animal. Kill and slaughter are the ordinary words used to describe the work of a butcher.
7. n. The act of killing, as game.
8. See kiln.
9. n. A channel, creek, stream, or bed of a river: used especially as an element of American names in the parts originally settled by the Dutch: as, Kill van Kull (the strait between Staten Island and New Jersey), Catskill, Sehuylkill.
10. In leather manufacturing, to remove the natural grease from (the skin) in making furs or robes from hair skins.
11. In tennis, to strike (the ball) with such force as to make it impossible for the opponent to return it.
12. n. An animal that has been killed, as by a beast of prey or by a sportsman; a bag of game.

Wiktionary

1. n. A creek; a body of water.
2. n. The act of killing.
3. n. Specifically, the death blow.
4. n. The result of killing; that which has been killed.
5. v. transitive To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
6. v. transitive, fiction To invent a story that conveys the death of (a character).
7. v. transitive To render inoperative.
8. v. transitive, figuratively To stop, cease, or render void.
9. v. transitive, figuratively, hyperbolic To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.
10. v. transitive, figuratively To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion.
11. v. transitive To use up or to waste.
12. v. transitive, figuratively, informal To exert an overwhelming effect on.
13. v. transitive, figuratively, hyperbolic To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.
14. v. transitive To force a company out of business.
15. v. transitive, informal To produce intense pain.
16. v. figuratively, informal, hyperbolic To punish severely.
17. v. mathematics, transitive, idiomatic, informal To cause to assume the value zero.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. obsolete A kiln.
2. n. A channel or arm of the sea; a river; a stream; ; -- used also in composition
3. v. To deprive of life, animal or vegetable, in any manner or by any means; to render inanimate; to put to death; to slay.
4. v. To destroy; to ruin
5. v. To cause to cease; to quell; to calm; to still.
6. v. To destroy the effect of; to counteract; to neutralize.
7. v. To waste or spend unprofitably; -- usually used of time.
8. v. To cancel or forbid publication of (a report, article, etc.), after it has been written.
9. n. The act of killing.
10. n. An animal killed in the hunt, as by a beast of prey.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile
2. v. end or extinguish by forceful means
3. v. hit with great force
4. v. hit with so much force as to make a return impossible, in racket games
5. v. drink down entirely
6. v. be fatal
7. v. tire out completely
8. v. deprive of life
9. v. mark for deletion, rub off, or erase
10. v. cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
11. v. cause the death of, without intention
12. v. be the source of great pain for
13. v. cause to cease operating
14. n. the act of terminating a life
15. v. thwart the passage of
16. v. overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration
17. v. destroy a vitally essential quality of or in