3.2.80 kill

kill LIST

This function sends a signal to a list of processes. The first element of the list must be the signal to send. You may use a signal name in quotes (without a SIG on the front). The function returns the number of processes successfully signaled. If the signal is negative, the function kills process groups instead of processes. (On System V, a negative process number will also kill process groups, but that's not portable.) Examples:

$cnt = kill 1, $child1, $child2;
kill 9, @goners;
kill 'STOP', getppid;  # Can *so* suspend my login shell...