kill、murder、slaughter、massacre、assassinate与execute这些动词均有“杀、杀死”之意。
kill : 普通用词，含义广泛，泛指以任何方式使人、动物或植物死亡。
- Her parents were killed in a plane crash.
她的父母死于一次空难。 - Smoking can kill.
吸烟会危及生命。 - Food must be heated to a high temperature to kill harmful bacteria.
食物必须经高温加热以杀灭有害细菌。
murder : 指谋杀或凶杀。
- Two sisters have been charged with (= officially accused of) murder.
两姐妹被控谋杀。 - There were three murders in the town last year.
去年镇上发生了3起谋杀案。 - The three were convicted of (= proved guilty of) murder.
这三人被判犯有谋杀罪。 - a murder weapon (= a weapon used to commit a murder)
凶器
slaughter : 本义指大批宰杀动物，也指像屠宰牲畜一样一次杀死许多人。
- Hardly anyone in the town escaped the slaughter when the rebels were defeated.
叛乱分子被击败后，镇上几乎没有人能逃过随之而来的大屠杀。 - We must find ways of reducing the slaughter which takes place on our roads (= death of many people in car accidents) every year.
我们必须设法减少每年因车祸而造成的大量死亡。
massacre语气比slaughter强。指大屠杀，尤指屠杀失去了自卫能力的人。
- Hundreds of civilians were massacred in the raid.
数百平民在那次袭击中惨遭杀戮。
assassinate : 通常指因政治原因用非法手段杀害政治领袖人物或短名人士。
- a plot to assassinate the president
暗杀总统的阴谋
execute : 指依法处死罪犯。
- He was executed for murder.
他因犯谋杀罪被处死。
#词汇辨析