kill

English

/kɪl/

verb
Definitions
  • (transitive) To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
  • (transitive) To render inoperative.
  • (transitive) To stop, cease or render void; to terminate.
  • (transitive) To amaze, exceed, stun or otherwise incapacitate.
  • (transitive) To cause great pain, discomfort or distress to.
  • (transitive) To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.
  • (transitive) To use up or to waste.
  • (transitive) To exert an overwhelming effect on.
  • (transitive) To overpower, overwhelm or defeat.
  • (transitive) To force a company out of business.
  • (intransitive) To produce intense pain.
  • (figuratively) To punish severely.
  • (transitive) To strike (a ball, etc.) with such force and placement as to make a shot that is impossible to defend against, usually winning a point.
  • (transitive) To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.
  • To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
  • (mathematics) To cause to assume the value zero.
  • (computing) To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
  • (metallurgy) To deadmelt.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English killen inherited from Old English *cyllan inherited from Proto-Germanic *kwuljaną derived from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (beat, break, strike, hew) inherited from Old English cwellan (kill, execute, murder) derived from Old Norse kolla (hit on the head, harm).

Origin

Old Norse

kolla

Gloss

hit on the head, harm

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms