murder
[noun]
Synonyms:
- killing, assassination, bloodshed, butchery, carnage, homicide, manslaughter, massacre, slaying
[verb]
Synonyms:
- kill, assassinate, bump off (slang), butcher, eliminate (slang), massacre, slaughter, slay

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Related Idioms: take for a ride
Related Words: asphyxiate, behead, decapitate, electrocute, garrote, guillotine, hang, lynch, smother, strangle

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English Thesaurus: assault, mugging, murder, homicide, rape, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. mur‧der¹ S3 W2 /ˈmɜːdə $ ˈmɜːrdər/ noun
[Word Family: noun: murder, murderer; verb: murder; adverb: murderously; adjective: murderous]
[Origin: Partly from Old English morthor, partly from Old French murdre]

1. [uncountable and countable] the crime of deliberately killing someone ⇒ manslaughter:
On the night the murder was committed, he was out of the country.
The man accused of her murder will appear in court today.
murder of
the brutal murder of a child
He was found guilty of attempted murder.
She was charged with two counts of first degree murder.
The mother of the murder victim wept in court.
Police are searching for the murder weapon.
Detectives have launched a murder investigation.

2. get away with murder informal to do anything you want, even things that are wrong, without being punished:
She lets those kids get away with murder.

3. be murder spoken to be very difficult or unpleasant:
It’s murder doing the shopping on Saturdays.
The traffic was murder this morning.

4. be murder on something spoken to harm or damage something else:
These new shoes are murder on my feet.
⇒ scream blue murder at scream¹(1)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. murder² verb [transitive]
[Word Family: noun: murder, murderer; verb: murder; adverb: murderously; adjective: murderous]

1. to kill someone deliberately and illegally:
He was convicted of murdering a policeman.
Thousands of civilians were brutally murdered during the civil war.
the murdered man

2. informal to spoil a song, play etc by performing it very badly:
It’s a good song, but they murdered it.

3. somebody will murder you spoken used to tell someone that another person will be very angry with them:
Your dad’ll murder you when he hears about it.

4. I could murder a beer/pizza etc British English spoken used to say that you are very hungry or thirsty and want a particular food or drink

5. informal to defeat someone completely:
They murdered us in the final.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

murder
noun
ADJ. brutal, horrific, terrible, vicious | cold-blooded, premeditated, wilful (law) a verdict of wilful murder
attempted | double, mass, multiple | terrorist | racial, sectarian | unsolved
VERB + MURDER commit murders committed by terrorists
jail sb for | avenge He vowed to avenge his brother's murder.
witness | implicate sb in new evidence that implicated her in the murder
get away with (figurative) They let their children get away with murder!
MURDER + VERB take place
MURDER + NOUN victim | suspect | hunt (informal), inquiry, investigation | bid, plot | conviction | scene | mystery, story Her latest novel is a gripping murder mystery.
 ⇒ Note at CRIME (for more verbs)

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

murder
verb
ADV. barbarously, brutally, foully, in cold blood The boy was brutally murdered. They were murdered in cold blood.
ritually | allegedly
VERB + MURDER attempt to, try to | plan to, plot to
PHRASES admit/deny murdering sb, be accused of murdering sb, be charged with murdering sb She was arrested and charged with murdering the two children.
be convicted/found guilty of murdering sb, be found murdered He was found murdered in the cemetery.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

murder

commit (a) murder (=murder someone)
Whoever had committed these murders had planned them carefully.
be guilty of murder
They had wished him dead, but that did not make them guilty of murder.
accuse somebody of murder (=say that you think someone murdered a person)
Dillon was accused of both murders.
deny murder (=say that you did not kill someone)
The four accused men all deny murder.
charge somebody with murder (=officially say that someone may be guilty of murder)
Is there enough evidence to charge him with murder?
investigate a murder
The police are investigating the murder of a homeless man.
solve a murder (=find out who murdered someone)
The murder has never been solved.
a brutal/horrific murder (=violent and cruel)
He is wanted for the brutal murder of a young girl.
cold-blooded murder (=not caused by strong emotions)
He didn’t kill his wife in a moment of anger; it was cold-blooded murder.
premeditated murder (=planned before it happens)
He was charged with premeditated murder.
an unsolved murder (=for which the killer has never been found)
Police questioned the man about two unsolved murders.
attempted murder (=the crime of trying to kill someone)
I am arresting you for attempted murder.
first-degree murder (also murder in the first degree) American English (=the most serious type of murder under U.S. law)
If convicted of first-degree murder, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
mass murder (=of a large number of people)
Hitler was responsible for the largest mass murder in history.
a murder victim (=someone who has been murdered)
The family of the murder victim pleaded for information to find the killer.
a murder weapon (=the gun, knife etc used to murder someone)
Have they found the murder weapon?
a murder scene (=where a murder happened)
His blood matched the blood found at the murder scene.
a murder investigation
A murder investigation is underway after a woman’s body was found in a tunnel.
a murder charge (=an official statement saying someone may be guilty of murder)
He has escaped a murder charge, but his career is finished.
a motive for murder (=a reason to kill someone)
Police believe the motive for the murders was robbery.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

assault noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of physically attacking someone:
He was arrested for an assault on a policeman.
mugging noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of attacking and robbing someone in a public place:
Muggings usually happen at night.
murder noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of deliberately killing someone:
He is accused of the murder of five women.
homicide noun [uncountable and countable] especially American English law murder:
Homicide rates are rising fastest amongst 15 to19-year-olds.
rape noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of forcing someone to have sex:
In most cases of rape, the victim knows her attacker.
kill to make someone die:
The driver and his passenger were killed in the crash.
He was killed by rival gang members.
commit manslaughter to kill someone without intending to – used when talking about this as a crime:
The court ruled that the guard had committed manslaughter.
assassinate to deliberately kill an important person, especially a politician:
He was part of a plot to assassinate Hitler.
slay to kill someone or something in a violent way – used in newspaper reports and also in old stories:
Two teenagers were slain in the shootings.
St. George slew the dragon.
The king was slain at the battle of Hastings.
execute formal (also put somebody to death) to kill someone as a punishment for a crime:
McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a bombing attack, was executed by lethal injection.
eliminate to kill someone in order to prevent them from causing trouble:
a ruthless dictator who eliminated all his rivals
take somebody out informal to kill someone in order to get rid of them, especially an enemy or someone who is causing trouble for you:
US forces used air strikes to take out the enemy positions.
One of the other drug dealers may have decided to take him out.
bump somebody off humorous informal to kill someone:
He was so irritating I felt like bumping him off myself.
do away with somebody informal to kill someone:
The settlers in Jamestown had been done away with, but no one knew how.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

crime noun [uncountable and countable] an illegal action or activity, or these actions in general:
The police need the public’s help to solve crimes.
Crime is on the increase.
It was a horrific crime.
offence British English, offense American English noun [countable] a crime, especially one that has a particular description and name in law:
It is an offence to drive while using a mobile phone.
a minor offence (=one that is not serious)
a serious offence
a parking offence
misdemeanor noun [countable] American English law a crime that is not very serious:
They pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and were fined.
felony noun [uncountable and countable] especially American English law a serious crime:
Fewer than 25 percent of the people arrested on felony charges are convicted.
He committed a series of violent felonies.
robbery noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of stealing from a bank, shop etc:
£100,000 was stolen in the robbery.
The gang carried out a string of daring robberies.
burglary noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of breaking into someone’s home in order to steal things:
There have been several burglaries in our area.
theft noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of stealing something:
Car theft is a big problem.
thefts of credit cards
shoplifting noun [uncountable] the crime of taking things from shops without paying for them:
They get money for drugs from shoplifting.
fraud noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of getting money from people by tricking them:
He’s been charged with tax fraud.
credit card fraud
larceny noun [uncountable] especially American English law the crime of stealing something:
He was found guilty of larceny.
phishing noun [uncountable] the activity of tricking people into giving their personal details, bank numbers etc on the Internet, in order to steal money from them:
One in four computer users reports that they have been hit by phishing attempts.
assault noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of physically attacking someone:
He was arrested for an assault on a policeman.
mugging noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of attacking and robbing someone in a public place:
Muggings usually happen at night.
murder noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of deliberately killing someone:
He is accused of the murder of five women.
homicide noun [uncountable and countable] especially American English law murder:
Homicide rates are rising fastest amongst 15 to19-year-olds.
rape noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of forcing someone to have sex:
In most cases of rape, the victim knows her attacker.
arson noun [uncountable] the crime of deliberately setting fire to a building:
The school was completely destroyed in an arson attack.
vandalism noun [uncountable] the crime of deliberately damaging things, especially public property:
He often got into fights and committed acts of vandalism.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

kill to make someone die:
The driver and his passenger were killed in the crash.
He was killed by rival gang members.
murder to deliberately kill someone – used when talking about this as a crime:
He was convicted of murdering his wife.
commit manslaughter to kill someone without intending to – used when talking about this as a crime:
The court ruled that the guard had committed manslaughter.
assassinate to deliberately kill an important person, especially a politician:
He was part of a plot to assassinate Hitler.
slay to kill someone or something in a violent way – used in newspaper reports and also in old stories:
Two teenagers were slain in the shootings.
St. George slew the dragon.
The king was slain at the battle of Hastings.
execute formal (also put somebody to death) to kill someone as a punishment for a crime:
McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a bombing attack, was executed by lethal injection.
eliminate to kill someone in order to prevent them from causing trouble:
a ruthless dictator who eliminated all his rivals
take somebody out informal to kill someone in order to get rid of them, especially an enemy or someone who is causing trouble for you:
US forces used air strikes to take out the enemy positions.
One of the other drug dealers may have decided to take him out.
bump somebody off humorous informal to kill someone:
He was so irritating I felt like bumping him off myself.
do away with somebody informal to kill someone:
The settlers in Jamestown had been done away with, but no one knew how.
commit suicide to kill yourself:
He committed suicide after the death of his girlfriend.
take your own life formal to kill yourself:
He had taken his own life while he was severely depressed.
They believe that it is a sin to take your own life.
massacre to kill a large number of people in a violent way:
Thousands of peaceful demonstrators were massacred by the soldiers.
slaughter to kill a large number of people in a violent way. Slaughter is also used about killing animals for food:
The army slaughtered thousands of civilians in an effort to stop the revolt.
The pigs were slaughtered on the farm.
exterminate to kill large numbers of a particular group, so that they no longer exist:
Hitler’s goal was to exterminate the Jews.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

murder
ˈmə:də
See: scream bloody murder

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲