| Origin: | Partly from Old English morthor, partly from Old French murdre |
1 [uncountable and countable]SCC the crime of deliberately killing someone [↪ manslaughter]COLLOCATIONS 
commit (a) murder investigate a murder accuse somebody of murder/charge somebody with murder a brutal murder attempted murder (=the crime of trying to kill someone) first-degree murder American English (=the most serious type of murder under US law) mass murder (=of a large number of people) murder victim murder weapon murder investigation/inquiry murder case/trial murder charge

commit (a) murder investigate a murder accuse somebody of murder/charge somebody with murder a brutal murder attempted murder (=the crime of trying to kill someone) first-degree murder American English (=the most serious type of murder under US law) mass murder (=of a large number of people) murder victim murder weapon murder investigation/inquiry murder case/trial murder charge
2 to do anything you want, even things that are wrong, without being punished :
She lets those kids get away with murder.
get away with murder
informal
She lets those kids get away with murder.3 to be very difficult or unpleasant :
It's murder doing the shopping on Saturdays.
The traffic was murder this morning.
be murder
spoken
It's murder doing the shopping on Saturdays.
The traffic was murder this morning.4 to harm or damage something else :
These new shoes are murder on my feet.
be murder on something
spoken
These new shoes are murder on my feet.➔ scream blue murder
at scream1 (1)WORD FOCUS: crime
crimes that involve stealing things: robbery, burglary, theft, shoplifting, fraud, carjacking
crimes that involve attacking people : assault, mugging, murder, rape
someone who commits crimes: criminal, thief, crook, burglar, mugger, robber, pickpocket, rapist, offender, lawbreakercrime
➔ See also crime

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