Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - kill

 I. verb  Etymology: Middle English, perhaps from Old English *cyllan; akin to Old English cwellan to ~ — more at quell  Date: 14th century  transitive verb  1.  a. to deprive of life ; cause the death of  b.  (1) to slaughter (as a hog) for food  (2) to convert a food animal into (a kind of meat) by slaughtering  2.  a. to put an end to ~ competition  b. defeat, veto ~ed the amendment  c. to mark for omission; also delete  d. annihilate, destroy ~ an enemy  3.  a. to destroy the vital or essential quality of ~ed the pain with drugs  b. to cause to stop ~ the motor  c. to check the flow of current through  4. to make a markedly favorable impression on she ~ed the audience  5. to get through uneventfully ~ time; also to get through (the time of a penalty) without being scored on ~ a penalty  6.  a. to cause extreme pain to  b. to tire almost to the point of collapse  7. to hit (a shot) so hard in various games that a return is impossible  8. to consume (as a drink) totally  intransitive verb  1. to deprive one of life  2. to make a markedly favorable impression was dressed to ~ Synonyms:  ~, slay, murder, assassinate, dispatch, execute mean to deprive of life. ~ merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner ~ed in an accident frost ~ed the plants. slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive slew thousands of the Philistines. murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility convicted of murdering a rival. assassinate applies to deliberate ~ing openly or secretly often for political motives terrorists assassinated the Senator. dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death dispatched the sentry with one bullet. execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty executed by lethal gas.  II. noun  Date: 1814  1.  a. an act or instance of ~ing  b. a decisive act that conclusively secures something (as a deal or win)  2. something ~ed: as  a.  (1) an animal shot in a hunt  (2) animals ~ed in a hunt, season, or particular period of time  b. an enemy unit (as an airplane or ship) destroyed by military action  c. a return shot in any of various games (as badminton, handball, or table tennis) that is too hard for an opponent to handle  III. noun  Usage: often capitalized  Etymology: Dutch kil  Date: 1669 channel, creek — used chiefly in place names in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York