kill

Use the verb "kill" for the the death of someone or something, but there are other ways in which this word is used:

• Our company is going to kill the project. (They’re going to stop it.)
• Kill the engine. The car is making a funny noise. (Turn off the ignition on the car.)
• Night after night, the comedian kills his audience and his popularity grows. (A comedian who makes an audience laugh a lot, "kills" them.)
• Jill said that her parents are going to kill her for staying out late. (They’re going to be really mad.)
• My wife is going to kill me for eating the pie she saved for tomorrow night. (She’s going to be mad.)
• Brad is killing himself by working extra hours this month. (He’s working very hard.)
• This heat is killing me. (The heat is physically damaging.)
• My back is killing me. (My back hurts.)
• You’re going to kill me for saying this, but I think we need to stay in this meeting for at least another hour. (You aren’t going to like this.)
• This beautiful weather is killing me. (I want to go outside and enjoy it, but I can’t.)
• What can we do to kill some time? (kill time = use time; spend time, usually before another event.)

As you can see, the word "kill" is very idiomatic!

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This page was first published on February 6, 2012.