assassinate
/əˈsæs(ə)nˌeɪt/ verb C1- To murder someone, especially an important person, by a sudden or obscure attack, especially for ideological or political reasons.
- To harm, ruin, or defame severely or destroy by treachery, slander, libel, or obscure attack. · He assassinated his rival's character.
He/she/it assassinates · Past assassinated · Past participle assassinated · -ing form assassinating
Verb forms
- Base form
- assassinate
- He/she/it
- assassinates
- Past
- assassinated
- Past participle
- assassinated
- -ing form
- assassinating
From the library
“The same who was so shamefully assassinated in 1815?”
d’Épinay and his family; besides, he had no relations nearer than an uncle and aunt, his mother having died at his birth, and his father having been assassinated in 1815, that is to say, when he was but two years old; it naturally followed that the child was permitted to choose his own pursuits, and he has, therefore, seldom acknowledged any other authority but that of his own will.”
And was he not the person who was assassinated one evening on leaving a Bonapartist meeting to which he had been invited on the supposition that he favored the cause of the emperor?”
“Is he not the son of General d’Épinay who was on our side, and who was assassinated some days before the usurper returned from the Island of Elba?”
Learn assassinate in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.