slaying

1 of 2

noun

slay·​ing ˈslā-iŋ 

plural slayings

: the act of killing a person : killing, murder

—used chiefly in journalistic writing

a gangland slaying

Sunday's slayings bring to 14 the number of killings this year in what police call gang-related attacks.

—Peter Stein

He is accused of ordering the 1989 slayings and robberies of three drug dealers …

—Joseph P. Fried

slaying

2 of 2

present participle of slay

Synonyms of slaying

Noun

• murder
• homicide
• killing

Examples of slaying in a Sentence

Noun

a man wanted for the slaying of seven people during an armed robbery

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The filing says Kirk’s slaying caused a train of events leading the FBI to investigate the SPLC and speak to a group that co-signed Kirk’s letter. — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 5 Nov. 2026

Two others were serial killers, having murdered three victims in separate slayings. — Michael McGough, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026

In October 2024, a Miami jury recommended that Lopez Andrade be sent to Florida’s Death Row for the slaying of Yaimi Guevara Machado, 30. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2026

Angel Apodaca, 22, was charged with murder, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal possession of a weapon in Tania Morales’s slaying, police said. — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 28 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for slaying

• baying
• braying
• faying
• flaying
• fraying
• graying
• greying
• haying
• laying
• neighing
• paying
• playing