idiom · informal
kill time
/kɪl taɪm/KILL TIME
speaking
to do something unimportant to pass the time while waiting
Examples
“I usually kill time by scrolling through news apps when I'm on a long commute.”
“We killed time at the airport by playing cards.”
“He tried to kill time until his friend arrived.”
Band 8 sentence
“While waiting for the meeting to start, she preferred to kill time by reviewing notes rather than scrolling social media.”
Collocations
- kill time by doing something
- kill time playing cards
Word family
kill time by + -ing verb + phrase
Common mistakes
I killed my time by watching TV.→I killed time by watching TV.
I kill the time with my phone.→I killed time with my phone.
Say it for a higher band
5pass time→6pass the time→7+kill time
Synonyms
pass the time
Easily confused
waste time
“Don't waste time on irrelevant details during the exam.”
Related words
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In Time
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