From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmake a killingmake a killinginformalPROFIT to make a lot of money in a short time He made a killing on the stock exchange. → killing
Examples from the Corpus
make a killing• After making a killing on other Trump casino bonds, he sold them recently.• Buy speculative stuff and you can make a killing or get killed, depending which way the wind blows.• They're a safe investment, but in love you can make a killing overnight.• But an on-the-ball whisky shop could make a killing with its special EC-label malt Scotch at £27.70 a bottle.• Boy, if you only knew what corporate insiders knew, you could make a killing on a stock, right?• He had made a killing on the stock exchange that morning.• Alexander recalled making a killing in the stock market in the '80s.• Vito's a debonair middle-aged New Yorker, who's made a killing in advertising.• They should make a killing today.• Not strongly enough to kill me for that, but certainly strongly enough to make killing me satisfying in that respect also. 