murder

1 noun

1 (C, U) the crime of deliberately killing someone: He is charged with the horrific murder of two young boys. | commit (a) murder: 4600 murders were committed in the US in 1975. | the murder weapon

—compare manslaughter

2 (U) unnecessary loss of human life caused by stupidity, especially in war: Sending untrained men into the battle was sheer murder.

3 get away with murder informal if someone gets away with murder they are not punished for their actions and are allowed to do anything they want: She lets those kids get away with murder.

4 it's murder spoken used to say that something is very difficult or unpleasant: It's murder trying to find somewhere to park in Cambridge these days.

5 it's murder on your feet/back etc spoken used to say that something makes a part of your body feel very uncomfortable: It's murder on your feet wearing high-heels all day.

—see also: scream/shout blue murder blue 1 (5) 2 verb (T)

1 to kill someone deliberately and illegally: She murdered him for his money. | Thousands of civilians have been brutally murdered by right-wing death squads. | the murdered man

—see kill 1

2 informal to spoil a song, play etc completely by performing it very badly: It's a beautiful song, but they murdered it.

3 informal to defeat someone completely: They murdered us in the final.

4 I could murder a beer/pizza etc BrE spoken used to say that you very much want to eat or drink something

5 sb will murder you spoken used to tell someone that another person will be very angry with them: Your dad'll murder you when he hears about it.