spree killer
5
9.2
- noun
- /ˈsprē ˈkilər/
- NSFW
:
asesino en serie
- There is one very peculiar thing about spree killers in this society.
- call a spree killer
- interviewed spree killers
Examples
-
There might be a link between such events and suicidal thoughts in the perpetrators, but not all mass murderers and spree killers have suicidal thoughts, nor do all of them view their attacks as suicide missions.
Blog text (18) -
Gun regulations will not prevent all spree killers of the political ilk; these people plan and acquire.
Blog text (6) -
Why are almost all spree killers men?
Blog text (18) -
Lots of female serial killers, but almost no female spree killers.
Blog text (18) -
And now it is always spree killers, shooting sprees, and worse.
Blog text (21) -
So Stuart's best Texas friend, Tarik, once said of Willert Styles, a spree killer.
Fiction book (1999) -
There is no guarantee that stricter gun laws will prevent these, since some spree killers forgo guns in favor of homemade pipe bombs or knives.
Blog text (18) -
The police are searching for a spree killer who has attacked three victims across the city.
-
After a series of shootings, experts warned that the spree killer could strike again at any moment.
-
The documentary explored the psychology behind what drives a spree killer to commit multiple murders in a short time frame.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'spree' denotes a short period of intense activity and 'killer' denotes someone who kills, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer a person who kills repeatedly in a short burst. While legal nuances (e.g., cooling-off period) may be unfamiliar, the core sense of multiple killings in a short time is predictable from the constituents and cross-linguistically transparent.
Etymology
Spree killer comes from the word spree, which means a short, wild burst of activity like a 'shopping spree'. The image of someone moving from place to place and carrying out quick, uncontrolled attacks explains why spree killer means 'a person who kills many people in a short time without a break'.