# kill

> English word · Verb · IPA /kɪl/ · frequency rank #852

## Definitions
1. To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
2. To render inoperative.
3. To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.
4. To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.
5. To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.
6. To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.
7. To use up or to waste.
8. To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.
9. To force a company out of business.
10. To punish severely.
11. To strike (a ball, etc.) with such force and placement as to make a shot that is impossible to defend against, usually winning a point.
12. To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.
13. To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
14. To cause to assume the value zero.
15. To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
16. To deadmelt.
17. To sexually penetrate in a skillful way.
18. To exert oneself to an excessive degree.

## Etymology
From Middle English killen, kyllen, cüllen (“to strike, beat, cut”), of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots kele, keil (“to kill”).
* Perhaps from unattested Old English *cyllan, from Proto-West Germanic *kwulljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwuljaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to throw, hit, hurt by throwing”).
* Or, possibly a variant of Old English cwellan (“to kill, murder, execute”) (see quell).
* Or, from Old Norse kolla (“to hit on the head, harm”), related to Norwegian kylla (“to poll”), Middle Dutch kollen (“to knock down”), Icelandic kollur (“top, head”); see also coll, cole).
Compare also Saterland Frisian källe (“to hurt”), Middle Dutch kellen (“to kill, hurt”), Middle Low German kellen, killen (“to ache strongly, cause one great pain”) (whence German Low German kellen, killen (“to hurt, injure, torment, vex”)), Middle High German kellen (“to torment; torture”).

## Easily confused with
- **KL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kl)
- **Kim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kim)
- **kit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kit)
- **kin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kin)
- **kip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kip)
- **KLM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-klm)
- **kind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kind)
- **king** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-king)
- **kiss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kiss)
- **Kyle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kyle)
- **kirk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kirk)
- **kits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kits)
- **kite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kite)
- **kiwi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kiwi)
- **kool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kool)
- **kink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kink)
- **Kira** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kira)
- **kilo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kilo)
- **kiln** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kiln)
- **kilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kill-vs-kilt)

## Common misspellings (4)
`ikll`, `kil`, `kkill`, `klil`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/kill