if looks could kill

In aphorism 64, section 2 of Friedrich Nietzsche's 1878 book Human, All Too Human, Nietzsche writes that "If looks could kill, we would long ago have been done for."

In chapter 16 of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula in a diary entry of Dr. Seward, he notes about the undead Lucy Westenra that "If ever a face meant death--if looks could kill--we saw it at that moment."

An ellipsis (anapodoton) for an expression such as "If looks could kill, her look would have led to the death of the person she was looking at."

A possible origin of the phrase comes from the legend of Medusa, who had the power to turn anyone who looked at her into stone.

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if looks could kill

1. (idiomatic, anapodoton) Used to characterize a look of strong hostility

• Appendix:English examples of anapodoton