(kil) v.t.
1. To deprive of life; cause the death of; slay.
2. To slaughter for food; butcher.
3. To destroy; put an end to: to kill love with hatred.
4. To destroy the active qualities of; neutralize: to kill lye.
5. To spoil the effect of; offset, as a color.
6. To cancel; cross out: to kill a paragraph.
7. To stop, as an engine or electric current.
8. To pass (time) aimlessly.
9. Colloq. To overwhelm with strong emotion, laughter, etc.
10. In tennis, to strike (the ball) to the opponent's court with such force that it cannot be returned.
—v.i.
11. To slay or murder.
12. To suffer or undergo death; die: These plants kill easily.
—noun
1. An animal killed as prey.
2. The act of killing, especially in hunting.
—in at the kill Present at the climax of a chase or other undertaking. [ME cullen, killen; origin uncertain] Synonyms (verb): assassinate, butcher, destroy, dispatch, execute, massacre, murder, slaughter, slay. To kill is simply to destroy life, whether human, animal, or vegetable, with no suggestion of how or why. Assassinate, execute, murder, apply only to the taking of human life; to murder is to kill with premeditation and malicious intent; to execute is to kill in fulfilment of a legal sentence; to assassinate is to kill by assault; this word is chiefly applied to the killing of public or eminent persons through political motives, whether secretly or openly. To slay is to kill by a blow, or by a weapon. Butcher and slaughter apply primarily to the killing of cattle; to butcher when the killing is especially brutal; soldiers mown down in a hopeless charge are said to be slaughtered when no brutality on the enemy's part is implied. To dispatch is to kill swiftly and in general quietly, always with intention, with or without right.

(kil) noun
A creek, stream, or channel: an element in many U.S. geographical names: Schuylkill. [<Du. kil]