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
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
Now, in Denmark, one of the world’s major fur exporters, over 15 million mink at 1,000 farms are now scheduled for slaughter.
The CDC released a COVID-19 test knowing it had a high failure rate | Rachael Zisk | November 9, 2020 | Popular-ScienceOwners worried about their bottom line at that moment but did not want to slaughter potentially productive animals.
The idea of herd immunity to manage the coronavirus should ring alarm bells | Rebecca Kaplan | October 30, 2020 | Washington PostAfter the industrial slaughter of whales ended in the mid-1900s, scientists estimated that nearly 99 percent of the planet’s blue whales had been completely wiped out.
Whale ‘roadkill’ is on the rise off California. A new detection system could help. | Erik Olsen | September 29, 2020 | Popular-ScienceIt’s likely that one day in the future—maybe distant, maybe not so much—we’ll look back in disbelief at the way we used to raise and slaughter entire animals just to get a few cuts of their flesh.
This Startup Is Growing Sushi-Grade Salmon From Cells in a Lab | Vanessa Bates Ramirez | September 16, 2020 | Singularity HubWith plant slowdowns came a backlog of pigs, cows and chickens waiting for slaughter.
Emails Show the Meatpacking Industry Drafted an Executive Order to Keep Plants Open | by Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung | September 14, 2020 | ProPublica
Many mercenaries slaughtered their way to power, casually betraying even close family to secure their fortunes.
We are just coming off the midterm elections, too, where the Democrats got slaughtered.
Jon Stewart Talks ‘Rosewater’ and the ‘Chickensh-t’ Democrats’ Midterm Massacre | Marlow Stern | November 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAssad, for his part, has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own people, most likely with little regard for their dignity.
Or the Hutus who slaughtered their way through 800,000 Tutsis over the course of three months?
Last month, dozens were abducted and slaughtered—by the police.
The revenge of the Portuguese was horrible, the Cahetes were hunted, slaughtered, and all but exterminated.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil | Maria GrahamTheir version of the position was that “great fighting took place daily and the Nazarenes were being slaughtered in hundreds.”
The Red Year | Louis TracyUnhappily thousands of harmless citizens were slaughtered side by side with the mutineers.
The Red Year | Louis TracyAt fifty yards' range, armed only with bows and spears, they were at the mercy of riflemen and could stand only to be slaughtered.
Overland | John William De ForestBut of course you do, for it seems almost yesterday that the Maine went down with her slaughtered crew.
Stories of Our Naval Heroes | Various
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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