slaughter
the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., especially for food.
the brutal or violent killing of a person.
the killing of great numbers of people or animals indiscriminately; carnage: the slaughter of war.
to kill or butcher (animals), especially for food.
to kill in a brutal or violent manner.
to slay in great numbers; massacre.
Informal. to defeat thoroughly; trounce: They slaughtered our team.
Origin of slaughter
1synonym study For slaughter
Other words for slaughter
Other words from slaughter
- slaugh·ter·er, noun
- slaugh·ter·ing·ly, adverb
- un·slaugh·tered, adjective
Words Nearby slaughter
Other definitions for Slaughter (2 of 2)
Frank, 1908–2001, U.S. novelist and physician.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use slaughter in a sentence
Today, our response to the temporary closing of slaughter plants can be a permanent opening of our dietary habits to actual plants.
Why meat could be top of mind for voters in the upcoming election | jakemeth | September 5, 2020 | FortuneEnraged, the meat lobby retaliated by having producers again cease sending animals to slaughter.
Why meat could be top of mind for voters in the upcoming election | jakemeth | September 5, 2020 | FortuneAfter all, Faith says, massive herbivores like these rhinos were slow to breed and it wouldn’t take a “catastrophic slaughter” for humans to make a dent in the population.
Climate change probably contributed to the woolly rhino’s rapid demise | Sara Kiley Watson | August 25, 2020 | Popular-ScienceIf the outcome in certain cases is less reprehensible than outright slaughter, it is only because natural selection only sometimes works to reduce the denominator of the “fitness ratio.”
Just Because It’s Natural Doesn’t Mean It’s Good - Issue 89: The Dark Side | David P. Barash | August 19, 2020 | NautilusPlant outbreaks gummed up the meat supply chain, creating a backlog of animals awaiting slaughter.
The logjam of cattle stuck on feedlots is beginning to clear | Tim McDonnell | July 13, 2020 | Quartz
To most of the world, Bashar al-Assad is a brutal dictator, responsible for the slaughter of 100,000 or more.
Getting people to pay attention to a possible new round of slaughter in the region proved difficult.
Confronting George Clooney’s Critics on South Sudan | John Avlon | October 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTReform first came in 1935 when Lenora slaughter was hired to re-invent the pageant as its new director.
In her white prom dress, Carrie is like a lamb to the slaughter, the blood besmirching her innocence.
Sex, Blood and Maroon 5: Pop Culture’s Wounds Run Deep | Lizzie Crocker | October 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhen Dan Honig was getting ready to slaughter a steer for the first time, he expected to feel devastated.
Its record is largely that of battles and sieges, of the brave adventure of discovery and the vexed slaughter of the nations.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockThe city hell hounds sprang to meet them and the slaughter of inoffensive Europeans began in Darya Gunj.
The Red Year | Louis TracyThe farewell and the mourning are finished by the slaughter of dogs, that the dying man may have forerunners in the other world.
This slaughter is accompanied by the tabagie and what follows it—namely, the singing and dancing.
It went hard with him to slaughter the faithful creature, who knew him, and came towards him at the first sound of his voice.
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
British Dictionary definitions for slaughter
/ (ˈslɔːtə) /
the killing of animals, esp for food
the savage killing of a person
the indiscriminate or brutal killing of large numbers of people, as in war; massacre
informal a resounding defeat
to kill (animals), esp for food
to kill in a brutal manner
to kill indiscriminately or in large numbers
informal to defeat resoundingly
Origin of slaughter
1Derived forms of slaughter
- slaughterer, noun
- slaughterous, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with slaughter
see like a lamb to the slaughter.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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