killer
/ˈkɪlə
/noun
1A person or thing that kills: there’s a killer on the loose...
- Due to the style of the shooting, police initial suspicions pointed to a contract killing with the killers meeting the dead man at the location where the body was discovered.
- Even though he himself has killed many people, he justifies it by reasoning that he only kills killers.
- Some of the giant clouds or dust trails might be real killers - bearing viruses with the power to infect and destroy a wide range of species.
Synonyms
murderer, slaughterer, destroyer, liquidator, exterminator, terminator, executioner
literary slayer
dated homicide
cause of death, fatal/deadly illness, destroyer, threat to life, menace, plague, scourge, peril
2 informal An extremely difficult or unpleasant thing: the shift system was a killer...
- You won't have the liability, but it's proving it that's the killer.
- The real killer was introducing change, or even creating a plan, whilst meeting our other commitments.
- This month could be a real killer.
2.1A formidably impressive person or thing: it s the zoom lens that makes this camera an absolute killer...
- I found myself getting an absolute killer of a massage that wiped out pretty much all the stress my back and shoulders had received from too much computer time at work.
- The novel features a killer of an opening sentence: "The strangest thing about my wife's return from the dead was how other people reacted."
- Her Elektra is a killer of a performance: a symphony of rage and hurt.
2.2A hilarious joke.Has he proven that he can rock style, presence and power with his raspy flow and long list of one-line killers?...
- The rabbit punchline was a killer.
- Those witty one-liners were killers.
3Australian /NZ informal An animal that has been selected for slaughter.
adjective
1Denoting a person or thing that kills: a killer virus...
- Africanized honey bees - melodramatically labeled "killer bees" - are the result of honey bees brought from Africa to Brazil in the 1950s.
- This winged predator from Europe, where it's also known as the "killer fly," has a taste for some of the insects greenhouse keepers find most distasteful.
- He sold walking sticks, which became known as 'killer sticks' after a French Quarter buggy driver supposedly used one to beat off a mugger.
2 informal Extremely difficult or unpleasant: I woke up with a killer hangover...
- Much of the dialogue has been focused on the killer low milk prices that afflicted farmers from 2001 through the first half of 2003.
- Crossing over from pop music stardom to movie stardom is a killer assignment, no matter how big you are as a pop phenomenon.
- Can there be a downer side to Mardi Gras other than the inevitable killer hangover the day after?
2.1chiefly US Very impressive or effective; excellent: the soundtrack is killer a killer physique...
- It's a killer site: you get the sense that it's run by people with boundless enthusiasm and competence.
- The plot really is the weakest part of the film, existing solely as a backdrop to pin some killer stunts on.
- All you need is a killer pair of heels and a sleek clutch for party perfection!
