Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Killer
Kill′er
,Noun.
1.
One who deprives of life; one who, or that which, kills.
2.
(Zool.)
A voracious, toothed whale of the genus
Orca
, of which several species are known; called also killer whale
. ☞ The killers have a high dorsal fin, and powerful jaws armed with large, sharp teeth. They capture, and swallow entire, large numbers of seals, porpoises, and dolphins, and are celebrated for their savage, combined attacks upon the right whales, which they are said to mutilate and kill. The common Atlantic species (
Orca gladiator
), is found both on the European and the American coast. Two species (Orca ater
and Orca rectipinna
) occur on the Pacific coast. Webster 1828 Edition
Killer
KILL'ER
,Noun.
Definition 2024
Killer
Killer
killer
killer
See also: Killer
English
Noun
killer (plural killers)
- That which kills.
- There’s a killer on the loose.
- My cat is a habitual bird killer.
- Carbon monoxide is a silent killer.
- (figuratively) That which causes stress or is extremely difficult, especially that which may cause failure at a task.
- That test was a killer.
- The final hill in the race course was a killer.
- (figuratively) Something that is so far ahead of its competition that it effectively kills off that competition.
- Various means had were used to steer aircraft in the early years but ailerons were the killer.
- (sports) A knockout form of darts or pool involving several players.
- A diacritic mark used in Indic scripts to suppress an inherent vowel (e.g., the Hindi viram, the Bengali or Oriya hasanta) or render the entire syllable silent (e.g., the Burmese virama, the Khmer toandakhiat).
- So, for example, an invisible ǎthaq “killer” (virama) (U+1039) is not inserted between initial and medial consonants. — http://mercury.soas.ac.uk/wadict/burmese/SOASMyanmar_keyboard_and_font_user_manual.pdf
- We have previously shown that there is no “virama” sign as a general “killer” in Khmer script, unlike, for example, in Devanagari script. — http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2458.pdf
- The virama U+1039 MYANMAR SIGN VIRAMA also participates in some common constructions where it appears as a visible sign, commonly termed killer. — http://www.myanmarnlp.net.mm/doc/20010714_implementation_draungmaw1.PPT
- In the course of its adaptation to non-Indo-Aryan languages, the Burmese script has acquired some features that distinguish it from other Indic scripts. The killer, or virama, participates in some common constructions that would be clumsy to handle the way they would be in the other Indic scripts, so the control function of the virama is separated from the diacritic function of the killer. The virama, 0F4D is used to form conjunct consonants, while the killer, 0F52, is a simple diacritic and has no effect on character shaping. The killer is also combined with the VOWEL SIGN O (0F4B) to form the low level tone vowel “o.” When used this way, this symbol is known as hyei hto, or “thrust forward.” — http://unicode.org/reports/tr1.html
- For example, although the ‘vowel killer’ diacritic may be called a ‘pulli’ in Tamil, it is still referred to by the Unicode character names as a ‘virama’. — http://www.w3.org/2002/Talks/09-ri-indic/indic-paper.html
- Thai words that have been borrowed from Sanskrit, Pali and English usually try to retain as much of the original spelling as possible; as this will often produce pronunciations that are impossible or misleading, a ‘killer’ symbol is placed above the redundant consonant to indicate that it may be ignored — Thai: An Essential Grammar By David Smyth
- Sometimes the ‘killer’ sign, called kaaran in Thai, cancels out not only the consonant above which it appears, but also the one immediately preceding it. — Thai: An Essential Grammar By David Smyth
Synonyms
- (that which kills): assassin, murderer; see also Wikisaurus:killer
- (diacritic): virama, halant, vowel killer
Derived terms
Terms derived from killer (noun)
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Translations
person who kills
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murderer
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an animal that kills
something that causes death
a diacritic mark
Adjective
killer (comparative more killer, superlative most killer)
- (slang) Excellent, very good.
- 2000, Various authors, The tablet, page 798:
- This is followed by a recipe for that very killer dish: "Eat and remember this, the greediest of all Popes" is their merry exhortation.
- 2009, Amy Bryant, The Great Scavenger Hunt, ISBN 1416964428, page 122:
- “Ahhh, Avery,” shouted the Yurtmeister after a full hour of intense volleyball. “That last serve was absolutely killer.”
- 2010, Al Burian, Burn Collector: Collected Stories from One Through Nine, ISBN 1604862203:
- However, there is something very killer about drinking whatever battery acid and paint thinner concoction it is that they make malt liquor out of, in broad daylight, slumped down on the pavement
- 2016, Kit Moulton, Annabella (page 108)
- That girl was dynamite. Dark hair with killer blue eyes, bronze skin, and an exquisite full-figured body.
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- Causing death, destruction, or obliteration.
- Distressing, uncomfortable.
- I had a killer headache this morning.
Usage notes
- In the sense of causing death or distress, killer is seldom used attributively.