Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons.
  • transitive verb To destroy or injure treacherously.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • 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.
  • To commit murder by assassination.
  • noun Assassination; murderous assault.
  • noun An assassin.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To kill by surprise or secret assault; to murder by treacherous violence.
  • transitive verb Archaic To assail with murderous intent; hence, by extended meaning, to maltreat exceedingly.
  • noun obsolete An assassination, murder, or murderous assault.
  • noun obsolete An assassin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb figuratively To harm, ruin, or defame severely or destroy by treachery, slander, libel, or obscure attack.
  • noun obsolete Assassination, murder.
  • noun obsolete An assassin.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb murder; especially of socially prominent persons
  • verb destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From assassin +‎ -ate, after Middle French assassiner.

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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 2010

  • CLANCY: All right, so Pat Robertson there saying he didn't use the word assassinate, but you did hear that in the other clip.

    CNN Transcript Aug 24, 2005 2005

  • 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?

    Latest Articles 2009

  • I doubt that any of them could spell the word assassinate, yet they were recycling hate learned from their parents.

    This is Babylon 2008

  • In his later negotiations with the CIA, he refused to use the word assassinate; he preferred eliminate.

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VIII No 1 1981

  • Only the word "assassinate" is too hard to speak and spell for RealAmericans, so they'll just talk about "shooting" Obama.

    The Opinuary Column mjs 2009

  • 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 2008

  • At National Security Council meetings, officials never use the word "assassinate" or explicitly discuss targeting individuals, according to a knowledgeable source.

    Evil In The Cross Hairs 2007

  • 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.

    Archive 2006-08-01 Nathaniel Livingston 2006

  • 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.

    Smithman's Arguments Broken Into Smithereens Nathaniel Livingston 2006

Comments

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  • Twice the ass in ONE WORD!

    May 10, 2007