See Also: killer(medicine)
nine-killer(medicine)
killer(dictionary)
lady-killer(medicine)
Killer bees(money)
Killer bees(finance)
Killer T cell(health)
killer whale(encyclopedia)
giant killer(dictionary)
killer 1, noun(dictionary)

killer (iou)



killer noun & adjective. LME.
[from KILL verb2 + -ER1.]
A. noun.
I.
A person who or thing which kills. LME.
impulse killer, revenge killer, etc. lady-killer, painkiller, etc. humane killer: see HUMANE adjective. SERIAL killer.
I. Murdoch She wanted to be the victim not the killer. British Medical Journal Might this be relevant to Alzheimer's disease, now America's number four killer?
Angling. An effective bait. L17.
= killer whale below. E18.
false killer a whale, Pseudorca crassidens, which feeds on squid and fish and resembles a killer whale with a smaller dorsal fin and without the white markings.
An impressive, admirable, or formidable person or thing; a hilarious joke; a decisive blow. colloq. E20.
Alan Bennett Witty talk. Clever talk. Dirty talk. Parliamentary talk. You're a killer Dad, you really are. New Yorker So I gave him a dirty look at one pointa real killer.
II.
A cow, sheep, etc., reared for slaughter. Usu. in pl. colloq. (chiefly Austral. & NZ). L19.
b. attrib. or as adjective.
That kills, deadly. L19.
I. Illich Death has paled into a metaphorical figure, and killer diseases have taken his place. Daily Colonist Would you stick your arm up to the elbow in a swarm of 'killer bees'?
Impressive, admirable, formidable. slang. L20.
Arena Woody Allen can still knock out killer one liners. City Limits Sometimes James Brown's albums stank, but there was always one killer track.
Comb. & special collocations: killer app (colloq., orig. & chiefly Computing) a feature, function, or application of a new technology or product which is presented as virtually indispensable or much superior to rival products; killer cell Physiology a white blood cell (a type of lymphocyte) which destroys infected or cancerous cells (see also NATURAL killer cell); killer-diller noun & adjective (slang) (a) noun = sense A.4 above; (b) adjective = sense B.2 above; killer instinct (a) an innate tendency to kill, a homicidal tendency; (b) fig. a keenly competitive or ruthless streak; killer submarine: designed to hunt and destroy enemy submarines under water; killer whale a predatory toothed whale, Orcinus orca, with black and white markings and a high narrow dorsal fin.
? Recorded earlier in ME as a surname.