To strike, beat, cut, or stab; strike down.To deprive (a human being or any animal, or, in more recent use, a vegetable) of life, by any means; put to death; slay.To destroy; render wholly inactive, inefficient, etc.; deaden; quell; overpower; subdue; suppress; cancel: as, sudden showers kill the wind; a thick carpet kills the sound of footsteps.To nullify or neutralize the active qualities of; deprive (a thing) of its characteristic active or useful qualities; weaken; dilute: as, to kill grain (by overheating it in the process of grinding); to kill fire-damp (to mix or dilute it with atmospheric air); to kill wire (by stretching it so as to destroy its ductility).To reject; discard: as, to kill a paragraph in a report; to kill an article in typeSynonyms Kill, Slay, Murder, Assassinate, Slaughter, Massacre, Despatch. Kill is the general word, meaning simply to deprive of life, whether wrongfully (Ex. xx. 13), accidentally, in self-defense, in war, or by process of law. Slay is a less commonplace word with the same meaning as kill. Murder is the general word for killing wrongfully, especially with premeditation. Assassinate means to kill wrongfully by surprise, suddenly, or by secret assault. To slaughter is to kill brutally or in great numbers; massacre is more intense than slaughter, meaning to kill indiscriminately, without need or without warrant, rapidly or in great numbers. To despatch is to kill with promptness or quickness, and generally in a quiet way. Kill, slay, slaughter, and despatch may apply to ordinary and proper taking of the life of an animal. Kill and slaughter are the ordinary words used to describe the work of a butcher.n. The act of killing, as game.See kiln.n. A channel, creek, stream, or bed of a river: used especially as an element of American names in the parts originally settled by the Dutch: as, Kill van Kull (the strait between Staten Island and New Jersey), Catskill, Sehuylkill.In leather manufacturing, to remove the natural grease from (the skin) in making furs or robes from hair skins.In tennis, to strike (the ball) with such force as to make it impossible for the opponent to return it.n. An animal that has been killed, as by a beast of prey or by a sportsman; a bag of game.