kil

n. [ OD. kindeken, kinneken, a small barrel, orig., a little child, fr. kind child; akin to G. kind, and to E. kin. ] A small barrel; an old liquid measure containing eighteen English beer gallons, or nearly twenty-two gallons, United States measure. [ Written also kinderkin. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Kilo- + erg. ] (Physics) A unit of work equal to one thousand ergs. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. An Australian boomerang, having one side flat and the other convex.
Syn. -- kylie. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

pos>n. Two cats fabled, in an Irish story, to have fought till nothing was left but their tails. It is probably a parable of a local contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, which impoverished both towns. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ D. kil. ] A channel or arm of the sea; a river; a stream; as, the channel between Staten Island and Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills; -- used also in composition; as, Schuylkill, Catskill, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Killed p. pr. & vb. n. Killing. ] [ OE. killen, kellen, cullen, to kill, strike; perh. the same word as cwellen, quellen, to kill (cf. Quell), or perh. rather akin to Icel. kolla to hit in the head, harm, kollr top, summit, head, Sw. kulle, D. kollen to kill with the ax. ] 1. To deprive of life, animal or vegetable, in any manner or by any means; to render inanimate; to put to death; to slay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words ! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To destroy; to ruin; as, to kill one's chances; to kill the sale of a book. “To kill thine honor.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her lively color kill'd with deadly cares. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to cease; to quell; to calm; to still; as, in seamen's language, a shower of rain kills the wind; new sound insultation killed the loud noises from outside. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Be comforted, good madam; the great rage,
You see, is killed in him. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To destroy the effect of; to counteract; to neutralize; as, alkali kills acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To waste or spend unprofitably; -- usually used of time; as, he killed an hour waiting for the doctor to see him. [ PJC ]

6. To cancel or forbid publication of (a report, article, etc.), after it has been written; as, they killed the article after getting threats of a lawsuit. [ PJC ]

To kill time, to busy one's self with something which occupies the attention, or makes the time pass without tediousness.

Syn. -- To murder; assassinate; slay; butcher; destroy. -- To Kill, Murder, Assassinate. To kill does not necessarily mean any more than to deprive of life. A man may kill another by accident or in self-defense, without the imputation of guilt. To murder is to kill with malicious forethought and intention. To assassinate is to murder suddenly and by stealth. The sheriff may kill without murdering; the duelist murders, but does not assassinate his antagonist; the assassin kills and murders.

n. A kiln. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of killing.

“There is none like to me!” says the cub in the pride of his earliest kill. Kipling. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. An animal killed in the hunt, as by a beast of prey.

If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride. Kipling. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]