kill 
Swearing that we 
Are mere usurpers, tyrants, and what's worse, 
To fright the animals and to kill them up, 
In their IMtgn'd and native dwelling place. 
Klmk:, As you Like it, 11. 1, (12. 
Syn. 2. Kill, M!l, Murder, Auaminate, Slaughter, Mas 
sacre, Ottftteh. Kill i thr t^-iit-rul word, meaning simply 
to deprive of life, whether wrongfully (Ex. xx. 13X acci- 
dentally, in self-defense, In war, or by process of law. Slay 
is a less eommonnliu:*.' word with the same meaning as 
kill. Murder Is the general word for killing wrongfully, 
especially with premeditation. Assassinate means to kill 
wrongfully liy surprise, suddenly, or by secret assault. 
To daughter is to kill brutally or in great numbers ; mat- 
mere is more intense than ttawjliii / , meaning to kill in- 
discriminately, 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, day, 
daughter, and dexpateh may apply to ordinary and proper 
taking of the life of an animal. Kill and daughter are 
the ordinary words used to describe the work of a butcher. 
kill 1 (kil), n. [< killi, v.] The act of killing, 
as game. [Hunting slang.] 
Then [they rode] across the road . . . just In time for 
the k-ill. CarnhiU May., June, 1862, p. 722. 
kill 2 , . and c. See kiln. 
kill 3 (kil), n. [< D. kil, a channel, MD. kille, 
kiele, an inlet. = Icol. kill = Norw. kil, a chan- 
nel, canal, inlet.] A channel, creek, stream, 
orbed of a river: used especially as an element 
of American names in the parts originally set- 
tled by the Dutch : as. Kill van Kull (the strait 
between Stateu Island and New Jersey), Cats- 
t-ill, SchuyU-i//. 
A great stream gushed forth, . . . made Its way to the 
Hudson, and continues to flow to the present day; being 
the identical stream known by the name of Kaaters-MU. 
Irving, Rip Van Winkle, Postscript. 
Their windows looking upon the boisterous cross-cur- 
rents of the Harlem Kills. The Century, XXXVII. 868. 
killable(kil'a-bl),o. [<Wi,r., + -oWe.] Capa- 
ble of being or fit to be killed. [Bare.] 
Looking at the " holluschickie " alone, as they really 
represent the only tillable seals, then the commercial value 
of the same would bo expressed by the sum of $1,800,000 
to 2,000,000. Fisheries <tfU.S.,V.U. 359. 
killadar (kil'a-dar), H. [Also kellidar; < Hind. 
Ici/ltlfldr, the governor or commandant of a fort, 
< kila', killa, a fort, + -ddr, one who holds.] In 
India, the commandant of a fort or garrison. 
The fugitive garrison . . . returned with 500 more, sent 
by the Kellidar of Vaudlwash. 
Onne, Mogul Empire (ed. 1803), II. 217. 
killas' (kil'as), . [Alsoca%s: Corn.] Clay 
slate; slaty rock. [Cornwall.] 
The term killax is locally applied to every member of the 
slate series ; and, in fact, to every rock which our miners 
cannot identify as either granite or elvan. Hemcood. 
killas 2 (kil'as), 11. [Of. killimore.'] The earth- 
nut, Butiium flexuosum. [Prov. Eng.] 
killbuck (kil'buk), n. [< kill 1 , v., + obj. buck*. 
Cf. butcher, as ult. containing the element 
buck 1 .] A butcher: a tern of contempt. 
Thar. Well, have you done now, Ladle? 
Are. O my sweet IdUruck ! 
Thar. You now in your shallow pate thinke this a dis- 
grace to mee. Chapman, Widdowes Teares, 1. 
kill-calf (kil'kiif ), n. [< kill 1 , ., + obj. calf 1 .] 
One who slaughters calves for market ; a butch- 
er. In the quotation used as an adjective. 
[Bare.] 
3285 
and commonest ring-plover of North America, 
sEgialitefi vociferus: so called in imitation of 
its shrill two-syllabled note. The killdee Is from 
9 to 10 Inches long, and 20 In extent of wings. The bill 
is black ; the eye Is black with a bright ring around it ; the 
legs are pale; the upper parts are grayish brown with 
a bronzed olive tint, changing to orange-brown on the 
rump; the under parU are pure white, with two black rol- 
lars encircling the neck ; the front and line over the eye are 
white, with a black stripe over this ; and the tail-feathers 
are peculiarly variegated with black, white, and the bright 
color of the rump. It occurs almost everywhere in North 
\nit rica, is migratory, not gregarious, very noisy, and rest- 
less. It nests on the ground, in grass or shingle, and lays 
four pyriform eggs, 1 A inches long and 1 ,^ inches broad, of 
a drab color heavily blotched with blackish brown. 
It was the plaintive cry of a kildee startled from it* so- 
journ on the bank. Harper's Mag., LXXVIII. 48. 
The sepulchral boom of the bittern, the shriek of the 
curlew, and the complaint of the HVWr-pIover were be- 
yond the power of expression. Bret Harte, Sketches, p. 90. 
kill-devil (kil'dey'l), . [< kill 1 , v., + obj. 
devil.] 1. A terrible fellow. 
So I should be called KM-d-iU all the parish over. 
Marlowe, Faustus, I. 4. 
2. A kind of artificial bait, 
killeck, /.. Seekilloek. 
killeen (ki-len'), n. [Ir.] The Irish moss or 
carrageen, Chondrns cripus. 
killer (kil'er), n. 1. One who kills or deprives 
of life; especially, a slaughterer; a butcher. 
But he conueighed himselfc a farre of from the bondes 
of ye cltee of Hierusalem, the killer of prophets, & went 
to the citie of Ephralm, wherunto y desert was nigh. 
./ UdaU, On John \\. 
Let us ... bring back our prince by seeing his killers 
die. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, v. 
2. A club of hard wood, used for killing fish. 
3. A delphinid, Orca gladiator, and other spe- 
cies of that genus: so called from their raven- 
ous and ferocious habits. Killers hunt in packs, and 
not only destroy such small species of their own kind as 
dolphins and porpoises, but attack and sometimes kill 
whales much larger than themselves. See Orca. Also 
, killer-whale. 
And there they make private shambles with 
cruelty, and sheepe-slaughtering murther. 
John Taylor, Works (1630). 
kill-COUrtesyt, . [< kill 1 , v., + obj. courtesy.] 
A person wanting in courtesy; a boor; a clown. 
[Bare.] 
Pretty soul ; she durst not lie 
Near this lack-love, this kill -courtesy. 
Shak., M. N. D., ii. 3, 77. 
kill-COW (kil'kou), H. [< kill 1 , r., + obj. eow 1 .] 
1. A butcher. [Burlesque and rare.] 2. A 
terrible fellow. Hallhccll. [North. Eng.] 
Yon were the onely noted man, th' onely killkmc, th' 
onely terrible fellow. Cotgrave. 
kill-CU (kil'ku), u. [Imitative.] The greater 
or lesser yellowshauks, Totanus melanoleitcus 
or T.ftaeipes. G.Trumbttll,l888. [New Jersey.] 
killdee (kil'de), w. [Also killdeer, kildee, kil- 
deer; imitative of the bird's cry.] The largest 
The other cetaceans of this group are generally distin- 
guished as narwhals, grampuses, killers, bottlenoses, dol- 
phins, and porpoises. Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 626. 
Coupon-killer. See coupon. 
killesse, . A variant of coulisse. 
killhog (kil'hog), n. [< kill 1 , v., + hog 1 .] A 
wooden trap used by hunters in Maine. Bart- 
lett. [Local, U. S.] 
killick, n. See killock. 
killie (Kil'i), ' Same as kUlifish. 
killiflsn (kil'i-fish), n. [Irreg. < D. kil, chan- 
nel, + fish 1 .] A name given about New York 
to fishes of the family Cyprinodontidai and gen- 
era Fundulus and Hydrargt/ra, having an elon- 
gatedform,depres8edscalyhead,bandsof point- 
ed teeth in the jaws, and a dorsal fin mostly in 
advance of the anal, with from 11 to 17 rays. 
The common or green killiflsh is Fundulus heteroclitus, 
with 5 branchlostegal rays : also called mummychog and 
tali-water minnow. The barred, bass, big, or striped kil- 
liflsh Is Hydrargura majalit, with 6 branchlostegal rays: 
also called May-fish, rockfish, and bull-minnow. Fundulus 
diaphanus shares the name barred Hllijish, and Is also call- 
ed spring minnow and spring mummychog. Some of the 
kUliflshes are known as mud-dabblers, and others as stud- 
fishet. The name is extended to some of the top-minnows 
of the related genus Zygonectes, as Z. notatus, known as the 
black-tided kUlifish. These fishes abound in shallow bays, 
channels, and ditches, and along the protected shores of 
eastern >orth America. 
killigrew (kil'i-grti), H. [Origin obscure; cf. 
Killtgreir, a surname.] The chough or red-leg- 
ged crow, Pyrrhocorax graculus. 
killikinick (kil'i-ki-nik'), . Same as kinni- 
kinick. 
killimore (kil'i-mor), n. The earthnut, Bunittm 
flexuosum. Also killas. [Prov. Eng.] 
killing (kil'ing), n. [Verbal n. of kill 1 , v.] The 
act of slaying or depriving of life. 
There must be an actual kitting to constitute murder. 
Blackstone, Com., IV. xiv. 
killing (kil'ing), j>. a. 1. Depriving of life; 
deadly; doing execution. 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., lit 2, S66. 
Anoth< 
Cut. 
kiln 
Madame von Elsonthal swept him a deep curUey with 
a killing glance of adoration. 
U. L. Stevenson, Prince Otto, U. 4. 
3. So terrible or frightful as almost to kill one ; 
exceedingly severe ; exhausting; wearing. 
An hundred paces farther, and on the left hand, there 
are the rellques of a Church, where they say that the 
Bleued Virgin stood when her Sonne passed by, and fell 
Into a trance at the sight of that killiuy spectacle. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 161. 
These fruitful fields, these numerous flock* I see. 
Are others' gain, but killing cares to me. 
Crabbe, The Village. 
The general went on with killing haughtines*. 
Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xxlx. 
The pace at which they went was really killing. 
W. U. Kussell. The War, xxvil. 
killingly (kil'ing-li), adv. In a killing or irre- 
sistible manner. 
They have wrought up then- zealous soul* Into such vc- 
In iiii-neies as nothing could be more kUlingly spoken. 
Hilton, On Def. of Uumb. Keraoiut, Pref. 
killing-time (kil'ing-tim), n. The season when 
hogs are slaughtered. Bartlett. [U. S.] 
killinite (kin-nit), n. [< Killin(ey) (see def.) 
+ -HfV.] A mineral of a pale-green color, it is 
a kind of plnit derived from the alteration of spodnmene, 
and Is found at Killiney Bay in Ireland, and elsewhere. 
killjoy (kil'joi), n. [< hill 1 , r., + obj. joy.] 
One who or that which puts an end to plea- 
sure ; one who spoils the enjoyment of others. 
I find that I have become a sort of bogey a kill-joy. 
W. Black, A Daughter of lieth, xxvl. 
killman 1 1, . [< hill 1 , v., + obj. .] Man- 
killing; slaughtering. 
Whom war-like Idomen did lead, co-partner In the fleet 
With kill-man Merlon. Chapman, Iliad, ii 673. 
killman 2 (kil'man), w.; pi. hillmeu (-men). [< 
kill* + man.] 'The man who has charge of a 
kiln. [Scotch.] 
There, busle Kil mm ply their occupations 
For brick and tyle ; there for their firm foundation* 
They dig to hell 
Sylvester, if. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., Babylon. 
killock (kil'ok), n. [Also spelled killick, killeck, 
kelleck, kellock, and formerly kcelek, keeleg; ori- 
gin obscure.] 1. The arm of a pickax or the 
fluke of an anchor. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 2. 
A small anchor or weight for mooring a boat, 
sometimes consisting of a stone secured by 
pieces of wood. [U. S.] 
So I cdvise the noomrous friends thet's in one boat with me 
To jest up killock, jam right down their helium hard a lee, 
Haul the sheeta taut, an', laying out upon the Suthun tack, 
Makefer the safest port they can, wich, I think, is Old Zack. 
Lowell, Biglow Papers, 1st BIT., Ix. 
There were some whole oars and the sail of hi* boat, 
and two or three killicks and painters. 
& O. Jewett, Deephaven, p. 116. 
To come to killock, to come to anchor. [U. S.] 
About the Gurnett's Nose the wind overblew so much 
at N. W. as they were forced to come to a killock at twenty 
fathom. Winthrop, Hist New England, I. 47. 
killogie (ki-16'gi), H. [< kill*, kiln, + logie.] 
The furnace of a kiln. [Scotch.] 
Na, na, the muckle chumlay In the Auld Place reeked 
like a kOlogie in his time. Scott, Ouy Mannerlng, vi. 
killow (kil'o), w. [A form of colly 1 , collate, q. v.] 
An earth of a blackish or deep-blue color, 
kill-pott (kil'pot), . [< kill 1 , r., + obj. pot.] A 
toss-pot; toper. 
Has been In his days 
A chirping boy and a kill-pot. 
B. Jonton, Masque of Christmas. 
killridget, . An obsolete variant of culrage. 
killut (kil'ut), n. [E. Ind.] In India, a robe 
of honor presented by a superior to an inferior 
on a ceremonial occasion ; hence, a ceremonial 
or official present of any kind. Also kcllaut, 
kliilat, killaut, and khelaut. 
He the said Warren Hastings did send kellautt, or robe* 
of honour, ... to the said ministers. 
Burke. Works, VII. 28. 
On examining the khelautt, . . . theserpeych . . . pre- 
sented to Sir Charles Malet, was found to be composed of 
false stones. J. Forbes, Oriental Memoirs, HI. 60. 
Killdm (J-fialitts ivciftrxsl. 
On the withering flower 
The killing sun smiles brightly. 
Shelley, Adouais, xxxii. 
2. Overpowering; irresistible: generally in the 
sense of fascinating, bewitching, charming, so 
as to attract and compel admiration : as, killing 
coquetries. 
A mournful glance Sir Fopling upwards cast, 
" Those eyes are made so killing was his last. 
Pope, R. of the L., v. 84. 
Pitt looked down with complacency at his legs, ... and 
thought in his heart that he was kitting. 
Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xlv. 
(kil'ma-gor), n. A fish of the fam- 
ily Scaridte, the Scarus pseudoscarus (xcrvleus. 
Kilmarnock bonnet. See bonnet. 
kiln(kil), n. [AlsoA'i'W, formerly kil; early mod. 
E. kylne, kytt,< ME. kylne, kulne, < AS. cyln, cy- 
li HI , cyline = Icel. kylnn = Norw. kylna = Sw. 
kiilna = Dan. kollf, a kiln, a drying-house, < L. CM- 
Wna, a kitchen : see culinary. The present pro- 
nunciation requires thespeilingA'i7/(ef. mill, for- 
merly miln, of similar phonetic form); but kiln is 
the prevalent spelling.] A furnace or oven for 
drying, baking, or burning. Kilns may be divided 
into two chief classes : those for direct burning, in which 
the material is submitted to the action of flame, the fuel 
