Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

murder

Syllabification: (mur·der)
Pronunciation: /ˈmərdər/

Translate murder | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of murder

noun

  • the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another:the stabbing murder of an off-Broadway producer he was put on trial for attempted murder
  • informal a very difficult or unpleasant task or experience:my first job at the steel mill was murder

verb

[with object]
  • kill (someone) unlawfully and with premeditation:somebody tried to murder Joe
  • informal punish severely or be very angry with:my father will murder me if I’m home late
  • informal conclusively defeat (an opponent) in a game or sport.
  • spoil by lack of skill or knowledge:the only thing he had murdered was the English language

Phrases

get away with murder

informal succeed in doing whatever one chooses without being punished or suffering any disadvantage.

murder one (or two)

informal first-degree (or second-degree) murder.

murder will out

murder cannot remain undetected.

scream (or yell) bloody (or British blue) murder

informal scream loudly due to pain or fright; make an extravagant and noisy protest:she had tripped and was screaming bloody murder

Origin:

Old English morthor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch moord and German Mord, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit mará 'death' and Latin mors; reinforced in Middle English by Old French murdre

murder in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of murder in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

merrythought

/ /
noun
the wishbone of a bird …