killer

CEFRB1

/ˈkɪlə/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A person or animal that kills another living thing.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extremely impressive, effective, or successful in informal speech.

Examples

  • Police described the killer as ‘a desperate and evil man’.

  • The killer remained at large for weeks.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈkʰɪlɚ] ~ [ˈkʰɪlɹ̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings
  1. Something that is so far ahead of its competition that it effectively kills off that competition.

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

  3. One who or that which kills.

More examples

In context
  • This weed killer does not harm human beings.

  • My cat is a habitual bird killer.

  • Carbon monoxide is a silent killer.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The detective is looking for the dangerous blank that attacked the family.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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