make a killing

Originally US English.

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make a killing (third-person singular simple present makes a killing, present participle making a killing, simple past and past participle made a killing)

1. (idiomatic) To win or earn a large amount of money.
   • 1913, Rex Ellingwood Beach, chapter 5, in The Iron Trail: An Alaskan Romance:

     "Now if they were playing faro I could make a killing."

   • 1996, Ani DiFranco (lyrics and music), “Napoleon”, in Dilate:

     And I said I still make a pretty good living / But you must make a killing / A killing

   • 2009 January 17, Tom Huddleston, “What's all the fuss about 'Slumdog Millionaire'?”, in Time:

     Danny Boyle's critical darling 'Slumdog Millionaire' has made a killing at the box office and is now being lavished with awards.

• The term was used in the literal sense by American bison hunters to describe the act of shooting a large number of buffalo in a short period of time:

1907, John R. Cook, The Border and the Buffalo, Citadel Press (1967), page 118 (describing events occurring in the 1870s):

Buck said if I would stay with him he would make a killing as long as it would pay to stay; said he would give me 30 cents apiece for all the buffaloes I would skin and peg out.

• Jonathon Green (2024) “make a killing v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang