slaughter
noun
the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., especially for food.
slaughter
1 American
[slaw-ter]
/ ˈslɔ tər /
noun
-
slaughters
plural
-
the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., especially for food.
-
the brutal or violent killing of a person.
- Synonyms:
- murder
-
the killing of great numbers of people or animals indiscriminately; carnage.
the slaughter of war.
verb (used with object)
-
slaughters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slaughtered,
past participle, past
-
slaughtering
present participle
-
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.
Slaughter
2
American
[slaw-ter]
/ ˈslɔ tər /
noun
slaughter
British
/ ˈslɔːtə /
noun
-
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
verb
-
to kill (animals), esp for food
-
to kill in a brutal manner
-
to kill indiscriminately or in large numbers
-
informal to defeat resoundingly
slaughter
Idioms
Synonym Usage
Slaughter, butcher, massacre all imply violent and bloody methods of killing. Slaughter and butcher, primarily referring to the killing of animals for food, are used also of the brutal or indiscriminate killing of human beings: to slaughter cattle; to butcher a hog. Massacre indicates a general slaughtering of helpless or unresisting victims: to massacre the peasants of a region.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
slaughtersimple
-
slaughterssimple
-
have slaughteredperfect
-
has slaughteredperfect
-
am slaughteringprogressive
-
are slaughteringprogressive
-
is slaughteringprogressive
-
have been slaughteringperfect progressive
-
has been slaughteringperfect progressive
Past
-
slaughteredsimple
-
had slaughteredperfect
-
was slaughteringprogressive
-
were slaughteringprogressive
-
had been slaughteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slaughter
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English slaghter, slahter, slauther (noun), from Old Norse slātr, earlier slāttr, slahtr
Explanation
Slaughter refers to the killing of large numbers of animals or people. When cattle are old enough, they're sent to slaughter and their meat is processed and shipped to stores. The noun slaughter was first used in the 1300s and comes from the Old Norse word slahtr, which also described the mass killing of animals or people. A verb form came along later, in the 1530s. You might hear slaughter used to describe the killing of large numbers of people in a war, a genocide, or a massacre. It also can be used figuratively to describe a crushing defeat, like the slaughter of your basketball team by your bitter rivals.
Vocabulary lists containing slaughter
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act V
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act IV
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"The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some have proposed reimbursing fishers or using acoustic deterrents instead of mass slaughter.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
In June, more than 400 cats destined for slaughter were rescued after authorities dismantled another alleged feline theft ring, the animal welfare group said.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Designed by the winners and probably stitched by the losers, it depicts alliances and double-dealings, the slaughter of a dynasty, and the rebirth of a nation under foreign laws and a hybrid tongue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Some subsequently appeared in the slaughter pipeline; inspection records showed mustangs ending up on trucks bound for Canadian slaughter plants.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
So he ordered the slaughter of a half-dozen pigs and a flock of ducks and arranged for the most luxurious long-life robe to be made for himself.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
Slaughter, and then by wrestler-turned-governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Slaughter was supported by Plaid Cymru MS for Sir Fynwy Torfaen, Matthew Jones, who accused the committee of "not publicly or adequately" explaining its concerns.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
In a Senedd debate, Welsh Green leader Anthony Slaughter said patients were facing "unbearable limbo".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
District Judge Fred W. Slaughter of California’s Central District does not fully invalidate UC’s wide-ranging anti-harassment policy, which covers misgendering, sexual abuse and stalking among campus community members.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
“That’s all very well you saying that,” said Mother Slaughter.
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
Bigger chicken breeds and flocks staying free of disease over the summer led to a glut in an industry that slaughters more than nine billion birds a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
A meatpacker is the plant that slaughters the animal and breaks the carcass down into the cuts that reach shops or restaurants.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The June 26 complaint filed by Animal Outlook described slaughters captured on video by Scott David, the organization’s director of investigations, when he visited the ranch during its Eid al-Adha event.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
"We condemn the resurgence of these mass slaughters and call on government to take its responsibility to secure lives and property very seriously or it should leave the stage."
From Reuters ● Dec. 20, 2022
Fruit and slaughters are not usually combined, nor are gods and peasants.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
About half of the cattle slaughtered at JBS’s Pennsylvania plant were trucked long distances, including from Iowa and Canada.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
From August 2024 to early March, more than 480,000 sheep and goats have been slaughtered because of the pandemic, mainly in central and northern Greece.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
During that period of turmoil, hunters slaughtered every rhino in Kidepo and across Uganda's other national parks, which had once supported around 700 of the massive animals, the Reuters news agency reports.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
More than 120,000 eagles were slaughtered over the course of Alaska’s bounty system alone.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026
She told me that she was going to do nazr for me, a vow to have a sheep slaughtered and the meat given to the poor if my book was accepted.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
He warned that slaughtering elephants for celebratory feasting could encourage poaching by creating the impression that killing elephants is acceptable when sanctioned by government.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
“I will never go into the meat slaughtering business,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2016.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
“If anyone does have an idea of buying it for the purpose of what it’s being marketed as, for slaughtering animals, they’ll have a large contingent of public opposition,” Williamson said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
On Wall Street, the arrival of Thanksgiving means it’s time for tax-loss harvesting, the wholesale slaughtering of the market’s worst-performing stocks.
From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025
The farmer doesn’t cry over slaughtering a hog.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
