What does kill mean?
Kill most directly means to cause the death of a person, animal, or other living thing. In extended usage, it means to stop, eliminate, destroy, or overwhelm something: one can kill a process, kill the lights, or kill time. The word can also describe a decisive sporting play, such as catching a fly ball in baseball. As a noun, a kill is the act of causing death or eliminating something, while informal expressions such as “a real kill” refer to a striking success or an attractive person. Although often blunt, kill is indispensable in ordinary English because it can express decisive termination across biological, technical, social, and recreational contexts. Its broad metaphorical range makes it more forceful than words such as stop and more direct than the more formal eliminate.
To cause the death of a person, animal, or other living thing; by extension, to stop, eliminate, destroy, or overwhelm something.
"The hunter carefully killed the injured animal."
The literal sense can be used in historical, legal, scientific, and general contexts. Metaphorical senses include terminating a process, suppressing an activity, or overwhelming someone emotionally.
An act of causing death or eliminating something; informally, a striking success or an exceptionally attractive person or thing.
"The delayed goal was the kill of the match."
The informal success or attractiveness sense is particularly associated with American English and is often used in phrases such as “a real kill.”
The plural is used for individual acts of killing or eliminating, and for recorded instances of such acts.
"The report counted several kills during the hunt."
The word kill has a surprisingly long history: it comes from Old English and ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root associated with striking or overthrowing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does kill come from?
The modern English verb descends from Middle English killen, which developed from Old English cwellan, meaning “to kill” or “to defeat.” Old English cwellan belongs to a Germanic word family that also produced quell, through a common Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European ancestry associated with striking, overthrowing, or bringing something down. The word has long been used both literally for causing death and metaphorically for defeating or eliminating something.
Related word forms
How kill is actually used
The verb is neutral in technical and general contexts when describing the deliberate ending of a life, but it can sound forceful or insensitive when used metaphorically or in discussions involving violence. The informal noun sense, as in a hit or a success, is especially common in American English.
Easily confused with kill
Kill generally means to cause death or eliminate something, whereas quell most often means to put down, suppress, or calm a disturbance.