KILLS Synonyms: 286 Similar and Opposite Words

kills 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of kill

as in destroys

to deprive of life during the war more soldiers were killed by disease than anything else

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Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in dismisses

to reject by or as if by a vote the Senate killed the bill by a single vote

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as in deletes

to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it I think that paragraph is irrelevant, so kill it

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

stets

as in wears

to use up all the physical energy of the long hike up the mountain just about killed us

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in fascinates

to attract or delight as if by magic with his dark good looks he would positively kill the ladies

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as in deactivates

to cause to stop functioning kill the engine before it overheats

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

kills

2 of 2

noun

plural of kill

as in victims

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Dissimilar Words

as in washes

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of kills

Verb

Because the coating stops being an insulator when its breakdown threshold is reached, the charge rips through it in a miniature dielectric breakdown, the same failure mode that kills capacitors and transformer insulation. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 31 Aug. 2026 The forest feels healthy even though it is pockmarked with dead standing beetle kills. — Megan Schrader, Denver Post, 27 Aug. 2026 Pancreatic cancer kills a disproportionate share of the people who get it. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026 Fire at hospital in Pakistan’s capital kills 14 newborns, officials say. — ABC News, 26 Aug. 2026 Airstrike in Gaza kills a 4-year-old Four-year-old Mohammed Taha died after an Israeli airstrike hit a house in central Gaza on Sunday, hospital authorities said. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026 Giving a mother who kills preferential treatment harkens to the patronizing assumption that women lack agency. — Dr. Susan Hatters Friedman, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026 This fine white powder is an abrasive substance that cuts the exoskeleton of spiders, ants, fleas, and other bugs, which dehydrates and kills them over time. — Kate Van Pelt, The Spruce, 19 Aug. 2026 Science kills superstition but seems to take the soul with it. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

Noun

Texas picked it up in the second half and finished with 37 deflections and four kills — a kill represents three consecutive defensive stops — to stymie a Bulldogs team that had won four of its last five games on the road. — Kirk Bohls, Houston Chronicle, 24 Jan. 2026 Cos-Okpalla clinched three of the last five points for Texas A&M with two kills and an assisted block, including a final kill over the middle for match point. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 19 Dec. 2025 Pugh then scored on back-to-back kills later in the set, scored on a block and scored on a kill for the final point of the set. — Lou Ponsi, Oc Register, 14 Oct. 2025 Harris had two kills during a 5-1 run that closed out the first game and a kill, block and ace during a comeback in the second game. — Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for kills

Verb

T cells, a type of immune cell that detects and destroys infected or abnormal cells, normally perform this inspection.

— William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
The white dwarf emits radiation and produces a giant gas bubble—the lion’s face—that destroys dust in its path.

— Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of destroys

Verb

After roll call and then assisting a man who sought to change his address, Judge Cho dismisses the other immigrants without speaking to them individually.

— Cameron Pugh, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Aug. 2026
The Heritage Foundation’s Yenor dismisses the notion that elite sports pose any threat to male fertility, observing to SciAm that, since 1990, Super Bowl–winning quarterbacks have had a higher than average number of children.

— Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of dismisses

Verb

Conversation data may remain in cloud storage until a user deletes it and may also inform Memories stored in the cloud.

— Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
That court filing said that TikTok has hundreds of personnel trained in underage moderation and as a result deletes tens of thousands of underage accounts.

— David Shepardson, USA Today, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of deletes

Verb

Olivia Miles, the rookie point guard for the Minnesota Lynx, wears a pair of bug-eyed sports goggles, black and bulbous, sometimes held in place by a thick strap that runs through her luxuriant Afro.

— Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Every patient wears a card on a lanyard, encoded so the equipment knows who's standing in front of it.

— Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of wears

Verb

Yet, what fascinates is that Aristotle’s God isn’t a typical divine being who summons and shepherds.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2026
Meanwhile, what fascinates aspiring neurologist Makenzie Stovall is the idea that AI is trying to emulate the brain — an organ whose inner workings continue to leave researchers dumbfounded.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of fascinates

Verb

The man looks down almost immediately after the light turns on when the light deactivates.

— Perry Vandell, AZCentral.com, 10 Feb. 2026
This higher temperature darkens the paste, slightly caramelizes the sugar, and deactivates enzymes that would otherwise break down pectin, resulting in a thicker, more cooked-tasting product.

— Anne Wolf, Martha Stewart, 7 Jan. 2026

Definition of deactivates

Noun

Other federal agencies that were victims of computer intrusion by the platforms were the Energy Department, the Health and Human Services Department and the National Institutes of Health, according to the DOJ.

— Dan Mangan, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
The State Department issued a statement on Wednesday expressing condolences to the victims of the flooding and pledged financial support.

— Matteo Moschella, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of victims

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“Kills.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kills. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of kills

verb

noun

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