Pronunciations (7)
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/ˈkɪlə/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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[ˈkʰɪlə]
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ˈkɪlɚ/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
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[ˈkʰɪlɚ]
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
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[ˈkʰɪlɹ̩]
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
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ˈkɪlə(ɹ)
Pronunciation notes
- GB
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ˈkɪlɚ
Pronunciation notes
- US
Noun
One who or that which kills.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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There’s a killer on the loose.
My cat is a habitual bird killer.
More examples (1)
Carbon monoxide is a silent killer.
That which causes stress or is extremely difficult, especially that which may cause failure at a task.
Usage- Countable
- Figurative
- Uncountable
- Examples
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That test was a killer.
The final hill in the race course was a killer.
Something that is so far ahead of its competition that it effectively kills off that competition.
Usage- Countable
- Figurative
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Digital streaming platforms are CD killers.
The killer whale.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (2)
Theſe Killers are from twenty to thirty Feet long, and have Teeth in both Jaws that lock one within another. They have a Fin, near the middle of their Backs, four or five Foot long. They go in Company by Dozens, and ſet upon a young Whale, and will bait him like ſo many Bull-dogs; ſome will lay hold of his Tail to keep him from threſhing, while others lay hold of his Head, and bite and threſh him, till the poor Creature, being thus heated, lolls out his Tongue, and then ſome of the Killers catch hold of his Lips, and if poſſible of his Tongue; and after they have killed him, they chiefly feed upon the Tongue and Head, but when he begins to putrify, they leave him. This Killer is without doubt the Orca, that Dr Frangius deſcribes in his Treatiſe of Animals.
This skull, which has all the appearance of being that of a full-grown animal, is just one quarter the length and breadth of the skull of the adult common Killer (Orca gladiator).
Fig. 188.—Grampus or Killer, Orca gladiator. (Flower, art. “Mammalia,” ‘Encyclopædia Britannica.’)
We once saw an attack made by three killers upon a cow whale and her calf, in a lagoon on the coast of California in the spring of 1858.
More examples (2)
Few animals known to man possess the savage and murderous nature of the small whale-like animals known as killers or orcas. They pass under various names as black fish, killer, orca, kill fish, sea tiger, and deserve all the titles.
There is, however, one species of whale that habitually preys upon other warm-blooded animals—the killer whale. Really a large dolphin, the killer was classified by Linnaeus as Orcinus orca, and by Cope as Grampus rectipinna.
A remarkably impressive person or thing.
Usage- Countable
- Figurative
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency quakes with mirth at his own punch line. Grimaldi chuckles through his teeth. “A killer, Tom, an absolute killer.”
Picture perfect, you don't need no filter / Gorgeous, make 'em drop dead, you're a killer
A knockout form of darts or pool involving several players.
Usage- Uncountable
A club used for killing fish.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A particularly heavy type of handstamp, or portion of one, often obscuring a large part of the postage stamp.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Synonym of virama (“kind of diacritical mark”).
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
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.”
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’.
More examples (1)
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
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.
Adjective
Excellent, very good, cool.
Usage- Slang
- Examples
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killer feature
killer view
More examples (5)
It all says that Elephant's Memory is a killer band.
This is followed by a recipe for that very killer dish: "Eat and remember this, the greediest of all Popes" is their merry exhortation.
“Ahhh, Avery,” shouted the Yurtmeister after a full hour of intense volleyball. “That last serve was absolutely killer.”
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
That girl was dynamite. Dark hair with killer blue eyes, bronze skin, and an exquisite full-figured body.
Causing death, destruction, or obliteration.
- Examples
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killer bee
killer robot
Distressing, uncomfortable.
- Examples
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I had a killer headache this morning.
Noun
someone who causes the death of a person or animal
- Synonyms
the causal agent resulting in death
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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heart disease is the biggest killer in the United States
a difficulty that is hard to deal with
- Broader terms
- Examples
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that exam was a real killer
predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas
- Broader terms