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abattoir

[ab-uh-twahr, ab-uh-twahr]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abattoir ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a slaughterhouse.

Origin of abattoir

1810–20; < French, equivalent to abatt(re) to slaughter (see abate) + -oir -ory²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for abattoir

butchery, shambles, stockyard

Examples from the Web for abattoir

Contemporary Examples of abattoir

Such an abattoir would never be permitted to continue in the United States, or indeed the developed (and white) world.
Ebola and America’s Childish Narcissism
Michael Tomasky
October 18, 2014
The abattoir was being used as a distribution plant for the meat of cattle slaughtered outside the city.
What Intolerant Buddhist Monks Are Doing to Sri Lanka
Kapil Komireddi
April 12, 2013
A view down into the wild, Art Deco abattoir now called the 1933 Center in Shanghai.
A Slaughterhouse with Style
Blake Gopnik
October 3, 2012

Historical Examples of abattoir

Aberdeen is in fact becoming little else than a London abattoir.
Curiosities of Civilization
Andrew Wynter
Shall I to the abattoir and ask the slayer of oxen for a steak?
Kentucky in American Letters, v. 1 of 2
John Wilson Townsend
Digging like a navvy in order to get admission to the abattoir!
The Last Shot
Frederick Palmer
The pigs will be dealt with in the abattoir, sent as fresh pork to the market or be turned into bacon to feed the members.
National Being
(A.E.)George William Russell
When it comes to slaughtering defenseless animals with high-powered guns, I prefer a position in an abattoir.
Everyday Adventures
Samuel Scoville

British Dictionary definitions for abattoir

abattoir

noun

another name for slaughterhouse

Word Origin for abattoir

C19: French, from abattre to fell

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

Word Origin and History for abattoir

n.

"slaughterhouse for cows," 1820, from French abattre "to beat down" (see abate) + suffix -oir, corresponding to Latin -orium (see -ory).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper