different between killer vs executioner

English

Etymology

kill +? -er.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?l?(?)/, [?k??l?(?)]
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k?l?/, [?k???l?]
• Rhymes: -?l?(r)

Noun

killer (countable and uncountable, plural killers)

1. One who or that which kills.

   Synonyms: assassin, murderer; see also Thesaurus:killer

2. (figuratively) That which causes stress or is extremely difficult, especially that which may cause failure at a task.

3. (figuratively) Something that is so far ahead of its competition that it effectively kills off that competition.

4. (sports, uncountable) A knockout form of darts or pool involving several players.
5. Ellipsis of killer whale.
   • 1966, Sarah Regal Riedman, Elton T. Gustafson, Home is the Sea: for Whales (page 116)

     There is, however, one species of whale that habitually preys upon other warm-blooded animals—the killer whale. Really a large dolphin, the killer was classified by Linnaeus as Orcinus orca, and by Cope as Grampus rectipinna.

6. A club used for killing fish.
7. (philately) A particularly heavy type of handstamp, or portion of one, often obscuring a large part of the postage stamp.
8. A diacritical mark used in Indic scripts to suppress an inherent vowel (e.g., the Hindi viram, the Bengali or Oriya hasanta) or render the entire syllable silent (e.g., the Burmese virama, the Khmer toandakhiat).

   Synonyms: virama, halant, vowel killer

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Italian: killer
• ? Japanese: ??? (kir?)

Translations

Adjective

killer (comparative more killer, superlative most killer)

1. (slang) Excellent, very good, cool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excellent
2. Causing death, destruction, or obliteration.

3. Distressing, uncomfortable.

Usage notes

• In the sense of causing death or distress, killer is seldom used attributively.

Derived terms

• killer app
• killer cancel
• killer whale

See also

• anusvara
• candrabindu
• sukun
• visarga

Anagrams

• rekill

Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

killer

1. Comparative form of kil

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English killer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kil.ler/
• Hyphenation: kil?ler

Noun

killer m (invariable)

1. hitman (hired assassin)

Derived terms

• killeraggio
• killerare

Further reading

• killer in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Luxembourgish

Adjective

killer

1. feminine dative of kill

English

Etymology

execution +? -er.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ex?e?cu?tion?er

Noun

executioner (plural executioners)

1. An official person who carries out the capital punishment of a criminal.
2. (archaic) Executor.
3. A hit man, especially being in some organization.

Related terms

• electrocutioner
• execute
• execution
• executor

Translations