Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. killing or murder for political reasons
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The act of assassinating; a killing by treacherous violence.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of assassinating; the act, especially of a hired emissary, of killing or murdering by surprise or secret assault; murder by treacherous violence.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. an attack intended to ruin someone's reputation
- n. murder of a public figure by surprise attack
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Examples
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“I find your use of the word assassination rather amusing,” snarled Rudin.
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As much as he hated the notion of prolonging his exposure to those sons of bitches, once someone breathed the word assassination it all became a new ball game.
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The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful Islamist political group, condemned what it called the assassination of Mr. bin Laden in a statement distributed to reporters on Monday.
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Gbagbo allies say the U.N. and French forces were also involved in Wednesday's fighting as part of what they call an assassination attempt against Mr. Gbagbo, a charge that French officials deny.
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This time it was what he called the assassination of Isaac.
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This assassination is the earliest reply which chivalry has had to make to forbearance unmeasured and friendliness almost fraternal.
The Martyred President: A Sermon Preached in the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.
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Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez said earlier this week he believes that after a winter lull, the Taliban will bring on a new strategy in the spring that probably will include what he called assassination hit teams.
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He said the strategy is likely to include what he called assassination hit teams.
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Yet Hazlitt also claims that the reviewers calculatingly engage in "assassination" to make money (16: 239).
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So the whole tiresome rhetorical apparatus of character assassination is dutifully wheeled in.
chained_bear commented on the word assassination
"Any state that turns a blind eye toward the assassination of reporters can't call itself a democracy."
—Kati Marton, "Getting Away with Murder," Newsweek, July 20, 2009
July 21, 2009
bilby commented on the word assassination
"Our drone wars also represent a new chapter in the history of assassination. Once upon a time, to be an assassin for a government was a furtive, shameful thing. In those days, of course, an assassin, if successful, took down a single person, not the targeted individual and anyone in the vicinity (or simply, if targeting intelligence proves wrong, anyone in the vicinity). No more poison-dart-tipped umbrellas, as in past KGB operations, or toxic cigars as in CIA ones -- not now that assassination has taken to the skies as an every day, all-year-round activity.
Today, we increasingly display our assassination wares with pride. To us, at least, it seems perfectly normal for assassination aerial operations to be a part of an open discussion in Washington and in the media. Consider this a new definition of "progress" in our world."
- Tom Engelhardt, Terminator Planet, tomdispatch.com, 7 April 2009.
April 8, 2009