Killed Kill Make Killing Kɪl People I Stop

• cancer kills thousands of people every year.
• tiredness while driving can kill.
• dozens of civilians were killed or injured in the attack.
• she was nearly killed by a car bomb.

kill

Verb Forms

1. to make somebody/something die
• Cancer kills thousands of people every year.
• Tiredness while driving can kill.
• Dozens of civilians were killed or injured in the attack.
• She was nearly killed by a car bomb.
• Both members of the crew were killed instantly when the missile hit their aircraft.
• Three soldiers were killed in action (= while fighting) yesterday.
• She tried to kill me!
• The terrorists threatened to kill the hostages.
• I bought a spray to kill the weeds.
• My mother will kill me (= be very angry with me) when she finds out.
• He tried to kill himself with sleeping pills.
• Don't kill yourself trying to get the work done by tomorrow. It can wait.

Extra Examples

• Three people were killed in the crash.
• He admitted killing her but said it was unintentional.
• The animals are killed quickly and humanely.
• As a young boy he accidentally killed his brother.
• The inquest concluded that he was unlawfully killed.
• The poison was slowly killing her.
• The terrorists had shown their willingness to kill indiscriminately.
• They plotted to kill the dictator.
• I nearly killed myself carrying that suitcase all the way here.
2. to destroy something or make it less good; to make something stop
• to kill a rumour
• She claims that social media kills relationships.
• The defeat last night killed the team's chances of qualifying.
3. to switch off a light or engine; to stop a computer program or process
• She killed the engine and climbed out.
• The only way to kill the process is to reboot the computer.
4. to cause somebody pain
• My feet are killing me.
5. to make somebody laugh a lot
• Stop it! You're killing me!
6. used to tell somebody not to ask questions or try to find out about things that do not involve them
7. wearing the kind of clothes that will make people notice and admire you
8. to have nothing to do or not be busy
9. used to describe the very angry or unpleasant way somebody is/was looking at you
• If looks could kill, she thought, seeing the expression that came over his face when he saw her, she’d be dead on the pavement.
• I don’t know what I’ve done to upset him, but if looks could kill…
10. to destroy something that would make you rich, successful, etc.
11. used to say that what you are going to do will either be very successful or fail completely
12. to spend time doing something that is not important while you are waiting for something else to happen
• We killed time playing cards.
13. to achieve two things at the same time with one action
14. to be so kind to somebody/something that you in fact harm them
15. to laugh a lot
• He was killing himself laughing.

Word Origin

• Middle English (in the sense ‘strike, beat’, also ‘put to death’): probably of Germanic origin and related to quell. The noun originally denoted a stroke or blow.