roadkill
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Etymology tree
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɹəʊdˌkɪl/
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈɹoʊdˌkɪl/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
roadkill (usually uncountable, plural roadkills)
- (chiefly US, automotive) The killing of an animal by a road vehicle.
- (video games) A successful kill in a deathmatch game by hitting an opponent with a road vehicle. A point or score (when considered collectively) gained by successfully killing opponents by a road vehiclein a deathmatch game.
- (chiefly US, automotive, uncountable) The animal or animals so killed.
- Synonym: road pizza
- 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
- The van was heading straight for her and travelling faster and faster by the second. Zoe had to do something or she would be roadkill.
- (by extension) A helpless victim.