murder

Less common meanings

4. 4
   verbcolloquialfigurativelytransitive

   To defeat an opponent decisively, leaving the contest completely one-sided.

   If our defense plays like that again, the visitors will murder us in the second half.

   She murdered her opponent in straight sets to take the final.

   UsageOften in boasts, predictions, or reports of a rout: we're going to murder them, they murdered us.

   Similarcrush, thrash, trounce, annihilate, demolish

   Note

   Sports talk borrows the killing for the scoreboard. The exaggeration is the point, so nobody hears it as a threat. The angry "I'll murder him" is a different, personal use, aimed at someone who has wronged the speaker.

5. 5
   ruinverbtransitive

   To perform or render something so badly as to ruin it.

   The cover band murdered my favorite song.

   He tends to murder every foreign word he tries to pronounce.

   UsageCommon objects include a song and the language: the band murdered that song.

   Similarbutcher, mangle, massacre, ruin, botch

   Note

   Ruining a performance rather than a person, and the classic victim is a language. William Shepard Walsh, writing in 1892, describes two stage foreigners who "succeed pretty well in their efforts to murder the language". Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • William Shepard Walsh describes two stage characters using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   group of crowsnouncollectivecountable

   A group of crows considered together; the traditional collective noun for the birds.

   Like how a group of lions is called a pride.

   A murder of crows wheeled above the church steeple at twilight.

   The farmer scattered a murder of crows that had gathered on his fence.

   UsageNearly always a murder of crows, a literary touch; in plain description a flock of crows is usual.

   Note

   One of the fanciful collective nouns from the old hunting vocabulary, and nearly always used in the fixed phrase "a murder of crows". Novelists reach for it for atmosphere: Deepak Chopra's The Return of Merlin (1995) and Daniel Handler's The Vile Village (2001) both use it. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

   • The fanciful animal collective nouns developed from old hunting vocabulary. en.wikipedia.org
   • Murder was historically a collective noun for crows. leme.library.utoronto.ca
   • Deepak Chopra wrote The Return of Merlin, first published in 1995. openlibrary.org
   • Daniel Handler wrote The Vile Village under the name Lemony Snicket. danielhandler.com
   • The Vile Village was first published in 2001. openlibrary.org
   • The Return of Merlin uses the expression murder of crows. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Vile Village also uses the expression murder of crows. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   punishverbcolloquialfigurativelytransitive

   To berate or thrash someone, used to express one's anger at them.

   Mom will murder me when she sees this mess.

   The boss is going to murder the whole team if this project falls apart.

   UsageUsually in warnings about what will happen: Mom will murder me, is going to murder us.

   Similarkill, throttle

8. 8
   death during crimenoununcountable

   In some legal systems, the crime of causing a death during certain serious felonies, for which participants may be held liable even if they did not kill or intend to kill.

   Because the burglary led to a guard's death, all three defendants faced murder charges.

   She was convicted of murder under the felony-murder rule even though her accomplice pulled the trigger.

   Note

   Lawyers call it felony murder, and it exists only in jurisdictions that adopt the felony-murder rule. What sets it apart is that it does not require intent to kill, which ordinary speech treats as the heart of murder, and puts the weight on taking part in the underlying crime. Outside the courtroom the word still points to the deliberate killing. This one is a term of legal doctrine, not of everyday talk.

9. 9
   killernounnonstandardcountable or uncountable

   One who unlawfully kills another person.

   UsageIn careful writing, use murderer for the person.

   Similarkiller

10. 10
    eat eagerlyverbcolloquialfigurativelyBritishtransitive

    To devour or consume something eagerly and completely.

    I could murder a curry after a shift like that.

    She was so thirsty she murdered the entire bottle of water.

    UsageOften used with could to express a strong desire for food or drink: I could murder a cup of tea.

    Similardevour, demolish, down, wolf

    Note

    A British craving rather than an act of eating, most idiomatic in the conditional "could murder": I could murder a hamburger, I could murder a cup of tea. David Walliams gives the tea line to Auntie Flip in Bad Dad (2017). The construction expresses wanting something badly and right now. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • David Walliams wrote Bad Dad. librariesniuk.overdrive.com
    • Bad Dad was first published in 2017. medien.umbreitkatalog.de
    • Auntie Flip says “I could murder a cup of tea” in Bad Dad. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    noundatedcountable or uncountable

    Something strikingly remarkable or impressive.

    Right quick another cat spoke up real loud, saying, “That’s murder man, really murder,” and his eyes were signifying too.

    1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe

    Altaira Morbius: [swimming in a pool] Come on in. Commander Adams: I didn't bring my bathing suit. Altaira Morbius: What's a bathing suit? Commander Adams: [quickly turning his back] Oh, murder!

    1956, Cyril Hume, Forbidden Planet

    Note

    A dated slang inversion in which a word for the worst thing becomes praise for the best. Mezz Mezzrow's Really the Blues (1946) catches it in jazz talk: "That's murder man, really murder." Forbidden Planet (1956) has it as an exclamation of astonishment: "Oh, murder!" Used today, it reads as period color, so keep it in dialogue set in its own era. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • Murder has a dated slang sense expressing admiration. en.wiktionary.org
    • Mezz Mezzrow wrote Really the Blues, with Bernard Wolfe. nyrb.com
    • Really the Blues was first published in 1946. openlibrary.org
    • Really the Blues contains the quoted words in dialogue spoken by an unnamed man, in a passage about jazz and verbal double meanings. faculty.winthrop.edu
    • Forbidden Planet is a 1956 film. silver.afi.com
    • Commander Adams exclaims 'Oh, murder!' in Forbidden Planet, reacting to Altaira's unfamiliarity with bathing suits. en.wiktionary.org