killer

English Online Dictionary. What means killer‎? What does killer mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English killer, kyller. By surface analysis, kill +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɪlə(ɹ)/, [ˈkʰɪlə(ɹ)]
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɪlɚ/, [ˈkʰɪɫlɚ]
• Rhymes: -ɪlə(ɹ)

Noun

killer (countable and uncountable, plural killers)

1. One who or that which kills.

   Synonyms: assassin, murderer; see also Thesaurus:killer

2. (figuratively) That which causes stress or is extremely difficult, especially that which may cause failure at a task.

3. (figuratively) Something that is so far ahead of its competition that it effectively kills off that competition.

4. (figuratively) A remarkably impressive person or thing.
5. (sports, uncountable) A knockout form of darts or pool involving several players.
6. Ellipsis of killer whale.
7. A club used for killing fish.
8. (philately) A particularly heavy type of handstamp, or portion of one, often obscuring a large part of the postage stamp.
9. Synonym of virama (“kind of diacritical mark”)

Derived terms

Descendants

• → German: Killer
• → Italian: killer
• → Japanese: キラー (kirā)
• → Russian: ки́ллер (kíller)

Translations

Adjective

killer (comparative more killer, superlative most killer)

1. (slang) Excellent, very good, cool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excellent
2. Causing death, destruction, or obliteration.

3. Distressing, uncomfortable.

Usage notes

• In the sense of causing death or distress, killer is usually used attributively.

Derived terms

• killer app
• killer cancel
• killer whale

See also

• anusvara
• candrabindu
• sukun
• visarga

Anagrams

• rekill

Chinese

Etymology

From English killer.

Pronunciation

Noun

killer

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) professor who is known for often giving students failing grades
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Mafia (party game)

Synonyms

• (Mafia): 狼人殺／狼人杀 (lángrénshā)

Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

killer

1. comparative degree of kil

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English killer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkil.ler/
• Rhymes: -iller
• Hyphenation: kìl‧ler

Noun

killer m (invariable)

1. hitman (hired assassin)

   Synonym: sicario

2. (chiefly journalistic) murderer, assassin

   Synonyms: assassino, omicida

3. Clipping of serial killer (“serial killer”).

   il killer delle ballerine ― the serial killer of the (female) dancers

Derived terms

• killeraggio
• killerare

References

Further reading

• killer in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Luxembourgish

Adjective

killer

1. feminine dative of kill