kill off

exterminer, anéantir

Causer la mort de tous ou de presque tous les êtres vivants d'un groupe.

En anglais simple : To cause all or most members of a group of living things to die.

• The spray killed off the insects.
• Hunting killed off the island’s largest birds.
• Will this treatment kill off all the bacteria?

Comment l'utiliser : kill something off (The disease killed most of the fish off.)

Synonymes : wipe out, exterminate

Expressions courantes : kill off insects, kill off a species

faire mourir un personnage

Pour un auteur, faire mourir un personnage afin de le retirer de l'histoire.

En anglais simple : For a writer, to make a character die so they no longer appear in the story.

• They killed off my favourite character.
• The author killed her hero off halfway through the book.
• Will the producers kill off another character this season?

Comment l'utiliser : kill someone off (The writers killed the detective off in the finale.)

Expressions courantes : kill off a character, kill off someone

mettre fin à, éliminer

Faire cesser quelque chose ou l'empêcher de continuer.

En anglais simple : To make something stop happening or prevent it from continuing.

• The delay killed off our plans.
• Higher prices have killed off demand for these products.
• Will the new rules kill off small businesses?

Comment l'utiliser : kill something off (The cuts killed the project off before it started.)

Synonymes : end, destroy, put an end to

Expressions courantes : kill off competition, kill off a project