SLAY

murder, slay, hit, dispatch, bump off, off, polish off, remove

(verb) kill intentionally and with premeditation; “The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Proper noun

Slay (plural Slays)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Slay is the 8135^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 4075 individuals. Slay is most common among White (71.31%) and Black/African American (23.29%) individuals.

Anagrams

• lays

Etymology

Verb

slay (third-person singular simple present slays, present participle slaying, simple past slayed or slew, past participle slayed or slain)

(now literary) To kill, murder.

(literary) To eradicate or stamp out.

(by extension, hyperbolic, colloquial) To defeat, overcome (in a competition or contest).

(slang) To delight or overwhelm, especially with laughter.

(slang, ambitransitive) To amaze, stun or otherwise incapacitate by awesomeness; to be awesome at something; to kill (slang sense).

(slang) to have sex with

Usage notes

• The alternative past tense and past participle form "slayed" is most strongly associated with the slang sense, "to delight or overwhelm"

• In recent use, "slayed" is also often found associated with the other senses as well. However, this is widely considered nonstandard.

• A review of US usage 2000-2009 in COCA suggests that "slayed" is increasing in popularity, but remains less common than "slew". It is very rare in UK usage (BNC).

• "Slain" has a current usage in newspaper headlines, as being shorter than "murdered".

Synonyms

• (to kill, murder): kill, murder, assassinate; see also kill

• (to defeat, overcome): conquer, defeat, overcome

• (to overwhelm or delight): kill, hit it out of the park

• (have sex with): coitize, go to bed with, sleep with; see also copulate with

Anagrams

• lays

Source: Wiktionary

Slay, v. t. [imp. Slew; p. p. Slain; p. pr. & vb. n. Slaying.] Etym: [OE. slan, sl, sleen, slee, AS. sleán to strike, beat, slay; akin to OFries. sla, D. slaan, OS. & OHG. slahan, G. schlagen, Icel. sla, Dan. slaae, Sw. sl, Goth. slahan; perhaps akin to L. lacerare to tear to pieces, Gr. lacerate. Cf. Slaughter, Sledge a hammer, Sley.]

Definition: To put to death with a weapon, or by violence; hence, to kill; to put an end to; to destroy. With this sword then will I slay you both. Chaucer. I will slay the last of them with the sword. Amos ix. 1. I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk. Shak.

Syn.

– To kill; murder; slaughter; butcher.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition