killing - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English kyllyng; equivalent to kill +‎ -ing.

killing (comparative more killing, superlative most killing)

  1. That literally deprives of life; lethal, deadly, fatal.
  2. (dated, idiomatic) Devastatingly attractive.
    • 1756, Edward Ward, A Compleat and Humorous Account of All the Remarkable Clubs and Societies in the Cities of London and Westminster, page 134:
      Should true Proportion ev'ry Mortal grace, / And Semetry be seen in ev'ry Face: / Beauty no longer would be thought divine, / Nor would its Charms with half the Lustre shine: / No courtly Dame a killing Look could boast, / If once the Foils of Homeliness were lost.
  3. (informal, idiomatic) That makes one ‘die’ with laughter; very funny.
    • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 471:
      Livia found her ‘killing’, and derived such amusement from her Martinique French that he was forced to enjoy her as well.

lethal, deadly, fatal

killing (countable and uncountable, plural killings)

  1. The act of killing.
  2. An instance of someone being killed.
    • 2013 April 24, Shohret Hoshur, Qiao Long, Hai Nan, Luisetta Mudie, Parameswaran Ponnudurai, “Xinjiang Violence Leaves 21 Dead”, in Dolkun Kamberi, Luisetta Mudie, Mamatjan Juma, transl., Radio Free Asia‎[2]:
      A police officer in neighboring Mekit county told RFA he was informed that police were searching the houses for a suspect from Pichan (in Chinese, Shanshan) county in Xinjiang’s Turpan prefecture when the killings occurred.
    • 2020 May 30, Peter Baker, “Trump Hopes for His Own Booster Shot From SpaceX Rocket Launch”, in The New York Times‎[3], archived from the original on 2 July 2020, retrieved 30 May 2020:
      But the split-screen nature of this moment in his presidency was underscored when Mr. Trump devoted the first nine minutes of his speech to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the subsequent protests and riots unfolding in cities across the country.
    • 2025 January 1, Reuters, “Suspect in Montenegro shooting dies from self-inflicted injuries after killing at least 12 people”, in CNN‎[4]:
      A man shot dead 12 people in a rampage in a small town in Montenegro before dying from self-inflicted injuries early on Thursday, authorities said, in one of the tiny Balkan nation’s worst mass killings.
    • 2025 August 18, Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, Avery Schmitz, Veronica Calderon, “A cartel war bleeding Sinaloa dry: homicides rise 400% in the year after the fall of ‘El Mayo’”, in CNN‎[5]:
      In the first year of her administration, ACLED data shows, Sheinbaum’s efforts to contain violence have generally coincided with a drop in attacks against civilians; since January, civilian killings have declined in nearly every Mexican state.
  3. (informal, usually as make a killing) A large amount of money.
    He made a killing on the stock market.
    • 1916, Melville Davisson Post, “The Man Hunters”, in The Saturday Evening Post‎[6]:
      The result is, in the end, the superintendent agrees to hold up another race, and the victim arranges to obtain all the money he can get in order to bet it on a sure thing. When the great "killing" is made, and the stripped victim goes back to consult with the superintendent […]

the act of killing

instance of someone being killed

killing

  1. present participle and gerund of kill

From Old Norse ketlingr, diminutive form of ketta (“cat”). Cognate with Swedish källing.

killing c (singular definite killingen, plural indefinite killinger)

  1. kitten (young cat)
  2. leveret (young hare)

From Old Norse kiðlingr.

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

killing m (definite singular killingen, indefinite plural killinger, definite plural killingene)

  1. a goatling

From Old Norse kiðlingr.

killing m (definite singular killingen, indefinite plural killingar, definite plural killingane)

  1. a goatling

From Old Swedish kiþlinger, from Old Norse kiðlingr, equivalent to kid (now fawn, before all baby animals); -ling (diminutive suffix).

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

killing c

  1. kid (a young goat)