<B>kilerg, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Physics.) a unit of work equal to 1,000 ergs. </DL>
<A NAME="kilkennycats">
<B>Kilkenny cats,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in Irish legend) two cats that fought until only their tails remained (used to describe combatants who fight relentlessly). </DL>
<A NAME="kill">
<B>kill</B> (1), verb, noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to put to death; cause the death of; slay; slaughter. <BR> <I>Ex. The farmer killed a chicken with his ax.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to put an end to; get rid of; destroy. <BR> <I>Ex. to kill odors, to kill a laugh, to kill faith.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>to cancel (a word, paragraph, item, or the like); delete. <DD><B> b. </B>to designate (printing type) as not to be used. <DD><B> 4. </B>to defeat by or veto (a legislative bill). <BR> <I>Ex. The insurance company's earnings figures were based on a tax gimmick which Congress was about to kill (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to destroy or neutralize the active qualities of. <BR> <I>Ex. to kill land in farming, to kill grain by overheating in grinding.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to spoil the effect of. <BR> <I>Ex. One color may kill another near it. General laughter killed the speaker's lofty climax.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>to use up (time). <BR> <I>Ex. We killed an hour at the zoo.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Informal.) to cause great pain or discomfort to. <BR> <I>Ex. My sore foot is killing me.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) to overcome completely. <BR> <I>Ex. His jokes really kill me.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>to hit (a ball in tennis and similar games) so hard that it cannot be returned. <DD><B> 11a. </B>to stop; stall. <BR> <I>Ex. to kill an engine.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to cut off the electrical connection of (a circuit). <DD><B> 12. </B>(Metallurgy.) to reduce the oxygen content of (a metal, especially steel) by the addition of deoxidizers such as aluminum to the molten metal. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to cause death; commit murder or slaughter. <BR> <I>Ex. "Thou shalt not kill."</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to be killed. <BR> <I>Ex. Roses may kill in a severe winter.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act of killing. <BR> <I>Ex. The hunter's kill was swift and sure.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an animal or animals killed, especially by sportsmen or by beasts of prey. <BR> <I>Ex. If ye plunder his Kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride (Rudyard Kipling).</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>the shooting down or destruction of an enemy missile or aircraft. <BR> <I>Ex. Later we discover that the package team came within 10 yards of the target, considered a "kill" (Christian Science Monitor).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the missile or aircraft so destroyed. <BR> <I>Ex. An ace with the record of twenty and one-half kills in Europe in World War II (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a ball hit so hard, in tennis and similar games, as to be unreturnable. <DD><I>adj. </I> killing; lethal. <BR> <I>Ex. kill capabilities.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>kill off,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to wipe out; exterminate. </I> <I>Ex. They were being killed off, at the rate of fourteen hundred a year (Edmund Wilson).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Slang.) to spend; use up. <BR> <I>Ex. A few killings on the printed page is one of man's easiest known methods for killing off a few leisure hours (Newsweek).</I> adj. <B>killable.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="kill">
<B>kill</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Dialect.) a stream, creek, or tributary river (used especially in place names of areas originally settled by the Dutch, such as <I>Catskill, Schuylkill, Kill Van Kull]).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="killdee">
<B>killdee, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dees</B> or (collectively) <B>-dee.</B> =killdeer.</DL>
<A NAME="killdeer">
<B>killdeer, </B>noun, pl. <B>-deers</B> or (collectively) <B>-deer.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small wading bird that has a loud, shrill cry and two black bands across its breast. It is the largest and commonest plover of North America. </DL>
<A NAME="killed">
<B>killed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (of a vaccine, virus, or bacteria) made powerless to produce disease; inactivated. <BR> <I>Ex. The Salk vaccine is a "killed" vaccine, in contrast with the "live," or attenuated, vaccines presently used for diseases such as smallpox and diphtheria (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="killer">
<B>killer, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person, animal, or thing that kills. <DD><B> 2. </B>a criminal who recklessly or wantonly kills. (SYN) butcher. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=killer whale.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having no equal; unrivaled; overwhelming. <BR> <I>Ex. While some publishers search for a killer mass-market product ... others take smaller steps (Rolling Stone).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>killing; lethal; devastating. <BR> <I>Ex. Her [the writer's] smartest move has been to choose living victims for her killer bios (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="killerbee">
<B>killer bee,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a black honeybee of Africa, noted for its sensitivity and aggressive reaction to disturbances of its hive. It was imported to Brazil in 1956 and accidentally released to migrate and breed with native bees. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of numerous hybrid varieties of honeybee, developed from the African killer bee and native South American bees; Brazilian bee. Some varieties are noted for their aggressive behavior. </DL>
<A NAME="killercell">
<B>killer cell,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of lymphocyte that attacks and destroys foreign or diseased cells. </DL>
<A NAME="killerdiller">
<B>killer diller,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) something or someone unusual or outstanding. <BR> <I>Ex. There is no doubt that the job of being Mayor is a killer diller (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<B>killer T cell,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of T cell that destroys viral, bacterial, and other foreign matter in the body, especially with helper T cells. </DL>
<A NAME="killerwhale">
<B>killer whale,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several large mammals, related to the dolphins, that live in northern waters, traveling in schools and killing and eating large fish, seals, and even other whales; grampus. Killer whales are from 20 to 30 feet long and weigh from 3 to 10 tons. </DL>
<A NAME="killick">
<B>killick, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small anchor or stone, used for mooring a boat. <DD><B> 2. </B>any anchor. Also, <B>kelleg,</B> <B>kellick,</B> <B>kellock,</B> <B>killock.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="killie">
<B>killie, </B>noun. =killifish.</DL>
<A NAME="killifish">
<B>killifish, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fishes</B> or (collectively) <B>-fish.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various small fishes found in shallow, fresh, brackish, or salt water in North America and used as bait. </DL>
<A NAME="killikinick">
<B>killikinick</B> or <B>killickinic, </B>noun. =kinnikinick.</DL>
<A NAME="killing">
<B>killing, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>deadly; destructive; fatal. <BR> <I>Ex. a killing frost.</I> (SYN) lethal, mortal. <DD><B> 2. </B>overpowering; exhausting. <BR> <I>Ex. to work at a killing pace.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) extremely funny. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>murder; slaughter. <DD><B> 2. </B>all the game brought down in a hunt; the total kill. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) a sudden great financial success. <BR> <I>Ex. to make a killing in stocks.</I> adv. <B>killingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="killingfield">
<B>killing field,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a site of carnage. <BR> <I>Ex. Efforts are underway at the killing fields of the Ninth Fort ... which served as a holding pen for truckloads of the condemned ... Nazis and Stalinists (Alisa Solomon).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) <BR> <I>Ex. So when George entered the killing field of presidential politics, he gave it a good amateur's try, but he never went the full distance (Hugh Sidey).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="killjoy">
<B>killjoy, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who spoils other people's fun. <DD><I>adj. </I> that destroys joy or pleasure. <BR> <I>Ex. killjoy admonitions.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="killock">
<B>killock, </B>noun. =killick.</DL>
<A NAME="kiln">
<B>kiln, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a furnace or oven for burning, baking, or drying something. Some lumber is dried in a kiln. Limestone is burned in a kiln to make lime. Bricks are baked in a kiln. <DD><B> 2. </B>a building with a furnace for drying lumber, grain, hops, or tobacco, or for making malt. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to burn, bake, or dry in a kiln; kiln-dry. <BR> <I>Ex. sprouted grain is 'kilned' ... to stop germination (H. J. Bunker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="kilndry">
<B>kiln-dry, </B>transitive verb, <B>-dried,</B> <B>-drying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to dry in a kiln. <BR> <I>Ex. kiln-dried lumber.</I> </DL>
<B>kilocycle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>1,000 cycles. <DD><B> 2. </B>1,000 cycles per second. The term kilocycle has been generally replaced by <I>kilohertz</I> as a unit of frequency of radio waves. (Abbr.) kc. </DL>
<A NAME="kilodyne">
<B>kilodyne, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Physics.) a unit of force equal to 1,000 dynes. </DL>
<A NAME="kilog">
<B>kilog.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> kilogram or kilograms. </DL>
<A NAME="kilogauss">
<B>kilogauss, </B>noun, pl. <B>-gauss</B> or <B>-gausses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Physics.) a unit of magnetic induction equal to 1,000 gauss. </DL>
