killer

«killer» in Mova's school dictionary: A person, animal or thing that kills — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a killer, killers); adjective (informal: killer)

meaning for a pupil

1) A person, animal or thing that kills. tree →

2) Something that is the cause of many deaths, as in «Heart disease is a big killer». tree →

3) (slang) Something very good, impressive or very hard, as in «a killer goal» or «That test was a killer». tree →

sense in the lessons

In news and stories: a killer is caught by police. In science and health: killer whales (orcas), killer diseases. In slang: «killer trainers» = great trainers; «My legs are a killer» = they really hurt. Phrases: killer whale, painkiller, killer instinct.

examples

• Killer whales hunt seals. tree →
• Smoking is a killer. tree →
• The police arrested the killer. tree →
• That was a killer goal! (slang) tree →
• Take a painkiller for your headache. tree →
• The last hill was a killer. tree →
• Weedkiller kills unwanted plants. tree →
• “Do you think a snake-killer kills muskrats?” said Rikki-tikki scornfully. tree →

note

Countable. Verb: kill. Compounds: painkiller, weedkiller, killjoy (someone who spoils fun). Slang «killer» for «great» is informal; avoid it in formal writing.

In the corpora

• Weed killer and slug pellets are poisons, so never touch, open or taste garden chemicals.
• Liquids in the wrong bottle look like drinks, and some, like cleaners or weed killer, can burn the mouth and throat.
• Many scary internet stories, such as «killer clown» rumours, are made up to frighten people.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «killer» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.