butcher

American  

[booch-er] / ˈbʊtʃ ər /

noun

1. a retail or wholesale dealer in meat.

2. a person who slaughters certain animals, or who dresses the flesh of animals, fish, or poultry, for food or market.

3. a person guilty of brutal or indiscriminate slaughter or murder.

   Synonyms:

   cutthroat, killer

4. a vendor who hawks newspapers, candy, beverages, etc., as on a train, at a stadium, etc.

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verb (used with object)

1. to slaughter or dress (animals, fish, or poultry) for market.

2. to kill indiscriminately or brutally.

3. to bungle; botch.

   to butcher a job.

butcher British  

/ ˈbʊtʃə /

noun

1. a retailer of meat

2. a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market

3. an indiscriminate or brutal murderer

4. a person who destroys, ruins, or bungles something

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verb

1. to slaughter or dress (animals) for meat

2. to kill indiscriminately or brutally

3. to make a mess of; botch; ruin

Related Words

See slaughter.

Other Word Forms

• butcherer
  noun
• unbutchered
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of butcher

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bocher, from Anglo-French; Old French bo(u)chier, equivalent to bo(u)c “he-goat” (from unattested Gaulish bucco-; compare Old Irish boc, Welsh bwch; akin to buck ¹ ) + -ier -ier ² ( see -er ²)

Explanation

The person whose job it is to cut up and sell meat is called a butcher. Your grandmother might go to the butcher once a week to buy pork chops. A butcher is an expert at preparing cuts of meat and poultry in a butcher shop or the meat section of a supermarket. You can also call a person whose job is slaughtering farm animals a butcher. Because this is a fairly bloody, gory occupation, the word is also used to mean a cruel, ruthless murderer. And when you really mess something up, you can also be said to butcher it — like the way you butchered that poem when you tried to recite it from memory.

Example Sentences

Dressed in jeans and fashionable sneakers, Burnham, who lives a few miles away, listened as Peter Cain, a local butcher, told him his Labour Party had become “a little bit complacent.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026

When butcher Asser Levy died in Colonial New York, he had gone from penniless immigrant to successful businessperson by meeting the booming city’s food needs.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

Gil was pouring money into the renovation, into things he probably shouldn’t have, putting extra-nice butcher block in the bathrooms.

From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026

“I’m celebrating neither Nowruz nor Fitr this year,” said Hasan, a Tehran butcher who said he saw two-thirds of his revenue wiped out.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

The men next to the butcher harrumphed and walked away, while the blue-eyed man swung his bags around and left the store.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

Related Words

• slaughter