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slay - 5 dictionary results

slay

  [sley] verb, slew, slain, slay⋅ing, noun
Use slay in a Sentence
–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 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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Slay

Slay\, v. t. [imp. Slew; p. p. Slain; p. pr. & vb. n. Slaying.] [OE. slan, sl?n, sleen, slee, AS. sle['a]n to strike, beat, slay; akin to OFries. sl[=a], D. slaan, OS. & OHG. slahan, G. schlagen, Icel. sl[=a], Dan. slaae, Sw. sl?, Goth. slahan; perhaps akin to L. lacerare to tear to pieces, Gr. ????, E. lacerate. Cf. Slaughter, Sledge a hammer, Sley.] 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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : slay
Spanish: matar,
German: erschlagen,
Japanese: 殺す
More Translations »

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.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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