serial killingn.
/ˈsɪərɪəl ˌkɪlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈsɪriəl ˌkɪlɪŋ/ Any of a series of murders committed by the same person, typically having similar features and following a characteristic pattern; the action of committing such murders (also in extended use). Cf. spree killing n. at spree n. Additions.
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1984 N.Y. Times 22 Apr. 4 e/1 (heading) A new information network could help police link ‘serial’ killings.
1997 Sporting Life (Electronic ed.) 3 Mar. In the early hours of Friday morning, during a serial killing of claret bottles, he was to be heard whingeing quietly.
2000 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 6 July The FBI have already admitted that serial killing has reached an ‘almost epidemic proportion’ in the United States, with between 35 and 50 killers currently on the loose.
2009 Film 4 Frightfest: Empire Leicester Square (Collectors' Programme) No. 10. 47 Together they uncover an undetected chain of serial killings when investigating the decades-old mystery.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1984- to come offpatent
- to come on
- to come on end
- to come on light
- to come on like gangbusters
- to come on one's ways
- to come on place
- to come on strong
- to come on the hot foot
- to come on the light
- to come on the parish
- to come on the scene
- to come on to the market
- to come one's ways
- to come or crawl out of the woodwork
- to come or grow into dislike with
- to come or turn copper
- to come out
- to come out at
- to come out at the little end of the horn
- to come out fighting
- to come out flat-footed
- to come out flat-footed for
- to come out flatfooted
- to come out flatfooted for