Definition of serial killer Serial killer
We found 4 definitions of serial killer from 4 different sources.
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What does serial killer mean?
WordNet
Noun |
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| serial killer - someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short interval | ||
| serial murderer | ||
| manslayer, murderer, liquidator a criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being) | ||
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Wiktionary 
OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω
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serial killer
A person who has killed several people over a long period of time.
Wikipedia 
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Serial killers are people who murder several people at different times (similar killers of more than one person are mass murderers and spree killers). Their victims are usually people the serial killer does not know, and the motive is usually for how killing people makes them feel, not robbery or revenge, or any of the other reasons most murders happen.
"Serial killer" first became a commonly used phrase for this kind of killers in the 1970s. This was the result of the crimes of people like Ted Bundy and David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam"). Jack the Ripper is thought by many to be one of the first serial killers that many people knew about, even though his victims were killed long before the phrase was invented.
Some of the worst serial killers have been doctors. Harold Shipman, a British general practitioner, is thought to have killed up to 250 of his patients. John Bodkin Adams, also British, is thought to have killed 163 patients.
