Meaning

Primary

To Kill

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means kill so the verb vocab version is to kill.

Reading

ころす
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you: You kill someone! Oh no, what are you going to do? Where will you put the body? You decide to stuff it into the core (ころ) of a nuclear silo. It will melt and disappear in there, right? At least, that's what you think. Imagine opening up the core of the nuclear silo and feel the burn of the radiation. You throw the body in and close the core, then run away. Unfortunately, this nuclear core will kill you too, eventually. Then, it will kill everyone in the area, because the body you threw in will overheat the core, causing a giant explosion.

Context

Patterns of Use

Common Word Combinations

  • 虫を殺す

    to kill an insect

    人を殺す

    to kill a person

    ウイルスを殺す

    to kill a virus

Context Sentences

お前なんか殺してやる!

I will kill you!

魚は殺さずに生きたまま食べた方がおいしいんだよ。

It tastes better to eat fish alive rather than killing it first.

私、シンデレラは実際、継母のこと殺したくて仕方がなかったと思うんだよね。

I think Cinderella was actually really keen on killing her step mother.

Kanji Composition