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PlainSpell

kill

/ˈkɪl/verb, noun

kill is spelled K-I-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 123 times per million words in written English, the 851st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, kill means “To put to death; to extinguish the life of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in kill?

Letters4: K-I-L-L
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing123 times per million words; the 851st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is kill?

Kill appears 123 times per million words in written English, the 851st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce kill?

  • US /ˈkɪl/
  • US [ˈkʰɪɫ]
  • /ˈkɪʊ̯/

Kill has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-kill.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-kill.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with kill

Also written: kiln.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with kill?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as kill from its last stressed vowel (/ɪl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of kill

  • kills present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • killing participle, present
  • killed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • k1ll
  • 'kill

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does kill mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To put to death; to extinguish the life of.

    Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and hard drugs combined.

  2. 2

    To render inoperative.

    He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting.

  3. 3

    To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.

    The editor decided to kill the story.

  4. 4

    To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.

    That night, she was dressed to kill.

  5. 5

    To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.

    These tight shoes are killing my feet.

  6. 6

    To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.

    It kills me to throw out three whole turkeys, but I can't get anyone to take them and they've already started to go bad.

  7. 7

    To use up or to waste.

    I'm just doing this to kill time.

  8. 8

    informalTo overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.

    Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of killing.

    The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives.

  2. 2

    Specifically, the death blow.

    The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head.

  3. 3

    The result of killing; that which has been killed.

    The fox dragged its kill back to its den.

  4. 4

    An instance of killing; a score on the tally of enemy personnel or vehicles killed or destroyed.

    confirmed kills

  5. 5

    The grounding of the ball on the opponent's court, winning the rally.

    As a senior in 1993, Turner had a kill percentage of 40.8, which was a school record at the time and the best in the SAC. Turner concluded her volleyball career with 1,349 kills, ranking fifth all-time at Catawba.

  6. 6

    USarchaicA creek or stream; (more loosely) any watercourse, such as a channel or arm of the sea.

    The channel beyond Staten Island, which connects Newark Bay with Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills.

  7. 7

    USarchaicIn particular, a waterway with a name ending in kill, such as the Beaverkill or the East Kill.

    We're gonna go flyfishing over in the kill.

  8. 8

    USrareAlternative form of kiln.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate kill?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of kill: FOK.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Kill in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtuer, couiquer, occire, buter, zigouiller, descendre (to put to death)
Germantöten, umbringen, ermorden, tööde (to put to death), abtöten (to render inoperative), zunichte machen (to render void)
Portuguesematar (to put to death), acabar com (to render void), morte (act of killing), presa (result of killing)
Spanishmatar, dar matarile, piliar, afrijolar, ñampiar (to put to death), matanza (result of killing)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does kill come from?

From Middle English killen, kyllen, cüllen (“to strike, beat, cut”), of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots kele, keil (“to kill”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after kill