killer
noun (a killer, killers); adjective (informal: killer)
Everyday
- A person, animal or thing that kills. tree →
- Something that is the cause of many deaths, as in «Heart disease is a big killer». tree →
- (slang) Something very good, impressive or very hard, as in «a killer goal» or «That test was a killer». tree →
In the lessons
In news and stories: a killer is caught by police. In science and health: killer whales (orcas), killer diseases. In slang: «killer trainers» = great trainers; «My legs are a killer» = they really hurt. Phrases: killer whale, painkiller, killer instinct.
Examples
- Killer whales hunt seals. tree →
- Smoking is a killer. tree →
- The police arrested the killer. tree →
- That was a killer goal! (slang) tree →
- Take a painkiller for your headache. tree →
- The last hill was a killer. tree →
- Weedkiller kills unwanted plants. tree →
- “Do you think a snake-killer kills muskrats?” said Rikki-tikki scornfully. tree →
Note
Countable. Verb: kill. Compounds: painkiller, weedkiller, killjoy (someone who spoils fun). Slang «killer» for «great» is informal; avoid it in formal writing.
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «killer» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «killer» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/killer/