kill

Meanings

To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
To render inoperative.
To stop, cease or render void; to terminate.
To amaze, exceed, stun or otherwise incapacitate.
To cause great pain, discomfort or distress to.
To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.
To use up or to waste.
To exert an overwhelming effect on.
To overpower, overwhelm or defeat.
To force a company out of business.
To produce intense pain.
To punish severely.
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.
To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.
To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
To cause to assume the value zero.
To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
To deadmelt.

From Middle English killen, kyllen, cullen, of obscure origin.
Perhaps from Old English *cyllan, from Proto-West Germanic *kwulljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwuljaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-.
Or, possibly a variant of Old English cwellan (see quell).
Or, from Old Norse kolla, related to Norwegian kylla, Middle Dutch kollen, Icelandic kollur; see also coll, cole).
Compare also Middle Dutch killen, kellen, Middle Low German killen, Middle High German kellen.
Borrowing from Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille.

Explore and search massive catalog of over 900,000 word meanings.

Get a curated memorable word every day.

Level up your vocabulary by setting personal goals.

Try out Vedaist now.