killing
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kill·ing
(kĭl′ĭng)n.
1. The act or action of causing death, as of a person.
2. A sudden large profit: made a killing on the stock market.
adj.
1. Causing or apt to cause death; fatal: a killing shot.
2. Thoroughly exhausting: a killing pace.
3. Informal Hilarious.
kill′ing·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
killing
(ˈkɪlɪŋ)adj
1. informal very tiring; exhausting: a killing pace.
2. informal extremely funny; hilarious
3. causing death; fatal
n
4. the act of causing death; slaying
5. informal a sudden stroke of success, usually financial, as in speculations on the stock market (esp in the phrase make a killing)
ˈkillingly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
kill•ing
(ˈkɪl ɪŋ)n.
1. the act of a person or thing that kills.
2. the total game killed on a hunt.
3. a quick and unusually large profit or financial gain.
adj. 4. fatal or destructive.
5. exhausting: a killing pace.
6. Informal. irresistibly funny.
[1400–50]
kill′ing•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Killing
See also death.
a substance or preparation for killing mites or ticks.
a place of bloodshed, so called after the field purchased by Judas with the bribe he received for betraying Christ.
Rare. 1. the murder of one friend by another.
2. the killer of a friend.
2. the killer of a friend.
a homicidal mania.
the killing of birds.
a substance for killing bacteria.
the act of decapitation; beheading or being beheaded. — decoilator, n.
the act of hurling from a window, especially people.
1. the act of putting to death without pain a person incurably ill or suffering great pain; mercy killing.
2. an easy, painless death. — euthanasic, adj.
2. an easy, painless death. — euthanasic, adj.
1. the act of suicide.
2. a person who commits suicide.
2. a person who commits suicide.
1. the killing of one’s brother.
2. a person who has killed his brother. — fratricidal, adj.
2. a person who has killed his brother. — fratricidal, adj.
a substance that kills fungi or retards the growth of spores.
the killing of an entire people or of a very large number of a people. — genocidal, adj.
any substance for killing germs, especially bacteria. — germicidal, adj.
1. the killing of a giant.
2. a person who kills giants.
2. a person who kills giants.
1. a sacrifice of one hundred oxen at one time, as in ancient Greece.
2. any slaughter on a large scale; a massacre.
2. any slaughter on a large scale; a massacre.
a substance for killing unwanted plant growth.
1. a burnt offering or sacrifice.
2. large-scale destruction by fire or other violent means.
2. large-scale destruction by fire or other violent means.
1. a general term for murder; the killing of another human being.
2. the murderer of another. — homicidal, adj.
2. the murderer of another. — homicidal, adj.
a mania for murder.
the process of sacrificing, espeeially by flre. — immolator, n.
1. the murder of infants.
2. a person who kills infants. — infanticidal, adj.
2. a person who kills infants. — infanticidal, adj.
a substance used for killing insects. — insecticidal, adj.
the act of cutting a person’s throat. See also remedies.
the process or act of pelting with stones, sometimes as a form of execution.
the killing of kangaroos.
the act of killing something for the purpose of sacrifice.
1. the killing of one’s husband.
2. a person who has killed her husband. — mariticidal, adj.
2. a person who has killed her husband. — mariticidal, adj.
1. the killing of one’s mother.
2. a person who has killed his mother. — matricidal, adj.
2. a person who has killed his mother. — matricidal, adj.
a substance that kills microbes.
a substance for killing mites. — miticidal, adj.
Obsolete, a killing or an act of killing.
1. the murder of a parent or close relative.
2. one who has killed a parent or close relative. — parricidal, adj.
2. one who has killed a parent or close relative. — parricidal, adj.
1. the killing of one’s father.
2. a person who has killed his father. — patricidal, adj.
2. a person who has killed his father. — patricidal, adj.
any chemical substance used for killing pests, as insects, weeds, etc.
the murder of a king. — regicide, n. — regicidal, adj.
a substance that kills rodents.
a punishment in old Persia, in which criminals were imprisoned in a log or hollow tree. The head, arms, and legs of a victim were left exposed and smeared with honey to attract insects.
1. the killing of one’s sister.
2. a person who has killed his sister. — sororicidal, adj.
2. a person who has killed his sister. — sororicidal, adj.
a substance or preparation used for killing sperm, used in contraception. — spermicidal, adj.
1. the killing of oneself.
2. one who has killed himself. — suicidal, adj.
2. one who has killed himself. — suicidal, adj.
1. the suicide of a Hindu widow by immolation on the funeral pyre of her husband.
2. a Hindu widow who died by suttee.
2. a Hindu widow who died by suttee.
an agent or preparation for killing tapeworms. — taeniacidal, teniacidal, adj.
1. the killing of a tyrant.
2. the killer of a tyrant. — tyrannicidal, adj.
2. the killer of a tyrant. — tyrannicidal, adj.
1. the killing of one’s wife.
2. a person who has killed his wife. — uxoricidal, adj.
2. a person who has killed his wife. — uxoricidal, adj.
the killing of a prophet. — vaticidal, adj.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
killing
There are several words which mean similar things to kill.
To murder someone means to kill them deliberately.
...the body of a murdered religious and political leader.
Assassinate is used to talk about the murder of an important person, often for political reasons.
The plot to assassinate Martin Luther King.
If a large number of people are murdered, the words slaughter or massacre are sometimes used.
Thirty four people were slaughtered while queuing up to cast their votes.
300 civilians are believed to have been massacred by the rebels.
Slaughter can also be used to talk about killing animals for their meat.
Chicken farms are having to slaughter their stock.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  killing - an event that causes someone to diefatality, human death - a death resulting from an accident or a disaster; "a decrease in the number of automobile fatalities" |
| 2. |  killing - the act of terminating a life coup de grace, deathblow - the blow that kills (usually mercifully) death - the act of killing; "he had two deaths on his conscience" euthanasia, mercy killing - the act of killing someone painlessly (especially someone suffering from an incurable illness) homicide - the killing of a human being by another human being fell - the act of felling something (as a tree) self-annihilation, self-destruction - the act of killing yourself; "it is a crime to commit suicide" slaughter - the killing of animals (as for food) poisoning - the act of giving poison to a person or animal with the intent to kill suffocation, asphyxiation - killing by depriving of oxygen ritual killing, sacrifice - the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity electrocution - killing by electric shock beheading, decapitation - killing by cutting off the head | |
| 3. | killing - a very large profit colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech net income, net profit, profit, profits, earnings, lucre, net - the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses) | |
| Adj. | 1. | killing - very funny; "a killing joke"; "sidesplitting antics" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
killing
noun
1. murder, massacre, slaughter, execution, dispatch, manslaughter, elimination, slaying, homicide, bloodshed, carnage, fatality, liquidation, extermination, annihilation, eradication, butchery, necktie party (informal) This is a brutal killing.
adjective
1. (Informal) tiring, hard, testing, taxing, difficult, draining, exhausting, punishing, crippling, fatiguing, gruelling, sapping, debilitating, strenuous, arduous, laborious, enervating, backbreaking He covered the last 300 metres in around 41sec, a killing pace.
2. deadly, deathly, dangerous, fatal, destructive, lethal, mortal, murderous, death-dealing Diphtheria was a killing disease.
make a killing (Informal) profit, gain, clean up (informal), be lucky, be successful, make a fortune, strike it rich (informal), make a bomb (slang), rake it in (informal), had a windfall They have made a killing on the deal.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
killing
nounadjectiveInformal. Extremely funny:
Informal: rich.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
uboj
killing
[ˈkɪlɪŋ]Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
killing
[ˈkɪlɪŋ] n
(= murder) → assassinat m
a brutal killing → un assassinat brutal
the husband may have carried out the killings → le mari pourrait avoir commis les assassinats
a brutal killing → un assassinat brutal
the husband may have carried out the killings → le mari pourrait avoir commis les assassinats
(= practice of murder) → assassinat f
to make a killing (= make money) → se remplir les poches, réussir un beau coup
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
killing
n
(of animals) (Hunt) → Erlegen nt; (at abattoir) → (Ab)schlachten nt
(of person) → Töten nt, → Tötung f; three more killings in Belfast → drei weitere Morde or Todesopfer in Belfast
(fig) to make a killing → einen Riesengewinn machen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
killing
[ˈkɪlɪŋ]Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995