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slain

 - 8 dictionary results

slain

  [sleyn]
Use slain in a Sentence
–verb
pp. of slay.

slay

  [sley] verb, slew, slain, slay⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to kill by violence.
2. to destroy; extinguish.
3. sley.
4. Informal. to impress strongly; overwhelm, esp. by humor: Your jokes slay me.
5. Obsolete. to strike.
–verb (used without object)
6. to kill or murder.
–noun
7. sley.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME sleen, slayn, OE slēan; c. D slaan, G schlagen, ON slā, Goth slahan to strike, beat

Related forms:
slay⋅a⋅ble, adjective
slayer, noun

Synonyms:
1. murder, slaughter, massacre, butcher, assassinate. 2. annihilate, ruin.

sley

  [sley] noun, plural sleys, verb
–noun
1. the reed of a loom.
2. the warp count in woven fabrics.
3. British. the lay of a loom.
–verb (used with object)
4. to draw (warp ends) through the heddle eyes of the harness or through the dents of the reed in accordance with a given plan for weaving a fabric.
Also, slay, sleigh.

Origin:
bef. 1050; ME sleye, OE slege weaver's reed; akin to D slag, G Schlag, ON slag, Goth slahs a blow; see slay
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To slain
slain   (slān)   
v.  Past participle of slay.
slay   (slā)   
tr.v.   slew (slōō), slain (slān), slay·ing, slays

  1. To kill violently.

  2. past tense and past participle often slayed Slang To overwhelm, as with laughter or love: Those old jokes still slay me.


[Middle English slen, slayen, from Old English slēan.]
slay'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
slay

  1. tv.
    to overwhelm someone with one's performance or other excellence. : These jokes always slay the audience.
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

slay 
O.E. slean "to smite," also "to kill with a weapon" (class VI strong verb; past tense sloh, slog, pp. slagen), from P.Gmc. *slakhanan, from base *slog- "to hit" (cf. O.N., O.Fris. sla, Dan. slaa, M.Du. slaen, Du. slaan, O.H.G. slahan, Ger. schlagen, Goth. slahan "to strike"), from PIE base from base *slak- "to strike" (cf. M.Ir. pp. slactha "struck," slacc "sword"). Modern Ger. cognate schlagen maintains the original sense of "to strike." Meaning "overwhelm with delight" (1340) preserves some of the wider rangeof meanings that the word once had, including also "to strike a spark" (O.E.).

slain  (adj.)
c.1225, from O.E. (ge)slegen, pp. of slean (see slay). The noun meaning "Those who have been slain" is attested from c.1340.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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