kill(LIST)

     kill LIST

             Sends a signal to a list of  processes.   The  first
             element  of  the  list  must  be the signal to send.
             Returns the number of  processes  successfully  sig-
             naled.

                  $cnt = kill 1, $child1, $child2;
                  kill 9, @goners;

             If the signal  is  negative,  kills  process  groups
             instead of processes.  (On System V, a negative pro-
             cess number  will  also  kill  process  groups,  but
             that's  not portable.)  You may use a signal name in
             quotes.