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Glite Dictionary
to bump off

to bump off

5 9.3
To kill someone on purpose, usually secretly and as part of a crime
  • phrasal verb
  • /bʌmp ɔf/
  • Offensive
translation icon : liquidar
  • Whenever we needed one of our own bumped off... we'd call this guy in.
  • got bumped off
  • just got bumped off
  • go around bumping off

I mean, we wouldn't allow people to bump off their parents, would they?

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Examples

  • When I was a kid my old man got bumped off.

    On the Waterfront (1954)

  • Three times he tried to have me bumped off!

    The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

  • So two people get bumped off in the same week.

    Angel Heart (1987)

  • One of the sources got bumped off.

    Seeking Justice (2011)

  • Look, if I testify against Big Boy, he'll have me bumped off.

    Dick Tracy (1990)

  • 'You bumped off O'Hara.

    Scarface (1932)

  • So what you're getting at is... instead of us going out and picking up your average everyday, run-of-the-mill murder victim, you think we should go and bump off a priest?

    Bloodletting (1997)

  • The gang planned to bump off their rival in a deserted alley.

  • He was terrified that if he spoke out, someone would try to bump off him.

  • In the movie, the main character is hired to bump off a corrupt politician.

Synonyms

to murder
vsto bump off
  • NSFW
∞ 3.0

To kill someone on purpose in an illegal way

is informal and used in secretive or criminal speech
to hit
vsto bump off
  • Offensive
653 8.8

To kill someone as part of a plan, often by hired people

is informal and applies to secretive criminal killing generally
to slay
vsto bump off
  • NSFW
62 7.5

To kill someone on purpose

is informal and focuses more on secretive criminality
to remove
vsto bump off
  • Offensive
58 9.9

To kill someone on purpose, usually by a criminal group

is informal and more direct about secretive criminal killing
to off
vsto bump off
  • Offensive
27 9.9

To kill someone on purpose

is informal and implies secret or criminal motive
to pick off
vsto bump off
  • Offensive
22 8.0

Shoot and kill opponents one by one from a hidden place

is informal and refers to planned secretive killing not only shooting
to knock off
vsto bump off
  • NSFW
19 9.9

Kill someone as part of a crime

is informal and stresses secrecy and criminal intent
to dispatch
vsto bump off
  • Offensive
13 7.7

To kill a person or animal quickly on purpose

is informal and adds secretive criminal colouring
to polish off
vsto bump off
  • Offensive
1 9.5

To kill someone on purpose

is informal and highlights secretive criminal action

Antonyms

to save
∞ 1.0

Rescue someone or something from danger

How Deadly

to assassinate
  • NSFW
199 7.0
to murder
  • NSFW
∞ 3.0
to bump off
  • Offensive
5 9.3
to kill
  • NSFW
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

bump off infinitive
bumped off past
bumped off past participle
bumping off present participle
bumps off third person singular

Morphology

bump + off

The meaning 'to kill' is not transparently predictable from the literal senses of 'bump' (to hit or collide) and 'off' (directional/particle). This is an informal idiomatic phrasal verb where the particle contributes a slang causative/terminative sense that cannot be derived by a B1 learner from the constituent meanings alone, so prior exposure is required.

Etymology

Bump off probably comes from a rough picture of someone being hit or knocked — bump — and then taken 'off' or removed. That's why it now means 'to kill' someone, often secretly by criminals.