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second-degree murder

 - 6 dictionary results
Second Degree Murder
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second-degree murder

 
Use second-degree murder in a Sentence
–noun Law.
See under murder (def. 1).
Origin:
1945–50, Americanism
Second Degree Murder
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mur⋅der

  [mur-der]
–noun
1. Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder).
2. Slang. something extremely difficult or perilous: That final exam was murder!
3. a group or flock of crows.
–verb (used with object)
4. Law. to kill by an act constituting murder.
5. to kill or slaughter inhumanly or barbarously.
6. to spoil or mar by bad performance, representation, pronunciation, etc.: The tenor murdered the aria.
–verb (used without object)
7. to commit murder.
—Idioms
8. get away with murder, Informal. to engage in a deplorable activity without incurring harm or punishment: The new baby-sitter lets the kids get away with murder.
9. murder will out, a secret will eventually be exposed.
10. yell or scream bloody murder,
a. to scream loudly in pain, fear, etc.
b. to protest loudly and angrily: If I don't get a good raise I'm going to yell bloody murder.
Origin:
1300–50; ME mo(u)rdre, murder, var. (influenced by OF murdre < Gmc) of murthre murther

Synonyms:
10. See kill 1 .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
murder

and slaughter
  1. tv.
    to overwhelm; to beat someone in a sports contest. : We went out on the field prepared to slaughter them. The murdered us in the second half.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

murder  (n.)
O.E. morðor (pl. morþras) "secret killing of a person, unlawful killing," also "mortal sin, crime, punishment, torment, misery," from P.Gmc. *murthran (cf. Goth maurþr, O.Fris. morth, O.N. morð, M.Du. moort, Ger. Mord "murder"). from PIE *mrtro-, from base *mor-/*mr- "to die" (cf. L. mors, gen. mortis "death;" mori "to die;" see mortal). The spelling with -d- probably reflects influence of Anglo-Fr. murdre, from O.Fr. mordre, from M.L. murdrum, from the W.Gmc. root. Viking custom, typical of Gmc., distinguished morð (O.N.) "secret slaughter," from vig (O.N.) "slaying." The former involved concealment, or slaying a man by night or when asleep, and was a heinous crime. The latter was not a disgrace, if the killer acknowledged his deed, but he was subject to vengeance or demand for compensation.
"Mordre wol out that se we day by day." [Chaucer, "Nun's Priest's Tale," c.1386]
Weakened sense of "very unpleasant situation" is from 1878. The verb is O.E. myrðrian, from P.Gmc. *murthjan. The original murderer's row was in New York City's Tombs prison; figurative use in baseball dates to 1858, though the quintessential one was the 1927 New York Yankees.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: murder
Function: transitive verb
: to kill (a human being) unlawfully and under circumstances constituting murder intransitive verb : to commit murder

Main Entry: second–degree murder
see MURDER
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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