killer-diller slang (orig. U.S.).
(ˌkɪləˈdɪlə(r))
[Rhyming reduplication of killer 7.]
= killer 7. Also attrib. or as adj.
| 1938 Life 8 Aug. 56 The hot musician..shudders when he hears Benny Goodman announce his next radio number as a ‘killer-diller’. 1939 R. P. Dodge in Ramsey & Smith Jazzmen xv. 341 The fast ‘killer-diller’ arrangement. 1957 W. C. Handy Father of Blues x. 147 My old friend Wilbur Sweatman—a killer-diller and jazz pioneer. 1970 Melody Maker 3 Oct. 15/6 The inevitable concessions to the gallery made by the band in some of the more ‘killer-diller’ specialities. |