Definition

to break the neck; hence (figuratively) to destroy

Etymology

a primitive root (identical with through the idea of sloping); properly, to bend downward; but used only as a denominative from H6203 (עֹרֶף),

Where the KJV renders it

• that is beheaded
• break down
• break (cut off
• strike off) neck

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.