kill off
To eliminate, to make extinctTo eliminate, to make extinct.
» Humans are slowly killing the planet off.
Meaning
3 senses(transitive)To eliminate, to make extinct.
We killed off the Dodo by over-hunting.
Of writers or producers, to permanently take a character out of a television series or other work by purposefully and deliberately having them killed within the plot.
The writers are killing off lots of people in the soap opera.
(figuratively, transitive)To put an end to.
- kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many
Examples
9 sentencesHumans are slowly killing the planet off.
They're multiplying faster than we can kill them off.
deSie vermehren sich schneller, als wir sie vernichten können.
On this island, petrels are being killed off by rats.
Why is the politician trying to kill off the opinions of the majority?
In this area, almost all the insects have been killed off by pesticides.
deHier sind fast alle Insekten mit Pestiziden ausgerottet worden.
Origin
From kill + off.From kill + off.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
kills off, killing off, killed off, killed off| Base form | kill off · to kill off |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | kills off |
| Present participle | killing off |
| Past simple | killed off |
| Past participle | killed off |
irregular
Synonyms
1 synonyms- kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many:exterminate
Word family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Phrasal verbs: introduction — Because it is a phrasal verb