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Glite Dictionary
drive-by killing

drive-by killing

1 8.5
An act of shooting someone to death from a moving car
  • noun
  • /ˈdraɪvˌbaɪ ˈkɪlɪŋ/
  • Offensive
translation icon : asesinato a tiros desde un coche
  • Witnesses described the chaotic scene following the drive-by killing on the busy street.

Examples

  • The police investigated the drive-by killing that left one man dead.

  • Yes, drive-by killings when you blow up a car moving through an intersection (the film showed it) are supposedly, when civilians get killed, a deliberate attempt by the inhuman Palestinians to claim how nasty Israel is.

    Blog text (29)

  • After the drive-by killing, the neighborhood was shaken and demanded better security.

Synonyms

murder
vsdrive-by killing
  • NSFW
∞ 1.6

An illegal killing of one person by another

is the same result but limited to deaths by gunfire from a moving vehicle
homicide
vsdrive-by killing
  • NSFW
914 6.1

The killing of one person by another

is narrower meaning deaths that result from gunfire from a moving vehicle
shooting
vsdrive-by killing
492 3.3

An incident when someone is hurt or killed by gunfire

is specifically death resulting when those guns are fired from a moving vehicle
slaying
vsdrive-by killing
  • NSFW
30 7.4

An illegal killing of a person planned in advance

focuses on deaths occurring from gunfire while in a moving vehicle
drive-by shooting
vsdrive-by killing
  • NSFW
19 5.9

A gun attack from a moving car that hits people outside

causes death specifically when gunfire comes from a moving vehicle

Surface Forms

drive-by killing singular
drive-by killings plural

Morphology

drive-by + killing

The compound is built from 'drive' + 'by' + 'killing', so a learner who knows the parts can infer it refers to a killing that takes place while driving past someone — the basic idea is derivable from the constituents. However, the conventionalised criminal sense (specifically shooting from a moving automobile) and the fixed compound usage may not be fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Drive-by killing comes from a simple picture: the drive part is someone in a car and the by part shows passing close to a person, so the attacker shoots them as they go past. That's why the phrase means 'a killing carried out by shooting from a moving car'.