killing off

Definition of killing offnext
present participle of kill off

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for killing off
Verb
  • From up in the space shuttle, in 1983, astronaut Sally Ride could see the pollution blotting out her Los Angeles hometown.
    Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Is the army coming, blotting out the sun?
    Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 23 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in about $6 million in actual losses, with 11 suspects — including an Iranian and Azerbaijani national — accused of stealing victims’ identities, taking out mortgages on their homes and pocketing the cash.
    Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 21 Mar. 2026
  • She was also found guilty of insurance fraud for taking out a $100,000 insurance policy on her husband's life with his forged signature and also for submitting a claim following his death.
    Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • And the bullpen highlighted by Carlos Estevez and Lucas Erceg augmented by the addition of Matt Strahm figures to give them an advantage in putting away games.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Ultimately, the Saints couldn't complete an all-timer of a tournament shocker, fading late as the Blue Devils rallied from their biggest deficit all season — 13 points — before finally putting away a 71-65 win in Thursday's first round of the East Region.
    ABC News, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Texas, meanwhile, rode the momentum after knocking off likely NBA lottery pick AJ Dybantsa and BYU in the first round.
    Anne M. Peterson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
  • Two of the biggest of the first day were Atlantic 10 champion Virginia Commonwealth — the 11th seed in the West Region — beating 6th seed and perennial power North Carolina, and Big South Champion High Point — a 12th seed in the West — knocking off 5th seed Wisconsin from the Big Ten.
    Josh Taylor, CBS News, 20 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • One thinks of the hundred brothers that Donald Antrim imagined, gathering in the ancestral home to honor their father’s memory and ritually slaughtering one of their own.
    Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
  • Before openly slaughtering thousands of protesters last month, Iran’s leaders had rejected chance after chance to improve the lives of their own people.
    Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 26 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Also on the trail is a gangster named Clyde (John Magaro), who’s been sent to redo the job of rubbing out the mysteriously undead Ida.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Zeus acting for his own pleasure underlies the evolutionary tales of small groups raiding foreign shores, carrying off women.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Before the night was out, Germans began chipping away at the barrier, carrying off chunks of one of the symbols of the diminishing Iron Curtain.
    Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 9 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Although forests store far more carbon overall in wood and soil, lawns can still play a supporting role by storing carbon mostly belowground, as long as maintenance inputs like fertilizer, mowing fuel, and irrigation are kept in check.
    Dr. Avishesh Neupane, Hartford Courant, 21 Mar. 2026
  • The wood jambs supporting your front and back entryways can quickly get coated with pollen during springtime, and mowing and raking the lawn kicks up dust and dirt that settles along the frame.
    Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Killing off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/killing%20off. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.

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