butcher

[booch-er]

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.

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

/ 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

verb

1. to slaughter or dress (animals) for meat

2. to kill indiscriminately or brutally

3. to make a mess of; botch; ruin

Other Word Forms

• butcherer noun
• unbutchered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of butcher¹

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 ( -er ² )

Word History and Origins

Origin of butcher¹

C13: from Old French bouchier , from bouc he-goat, probably of Celtic origin; see _buck ¹ ; compare Welsh bwch he-goat

Synonym Study

See slaughter.

Example Sentences

He estimates he has worked in at least 25 different trades, from butcher to taquero to sound engineer, social media manager and nonprofit worker, none really fitting his life’s goal to do something “meaningful.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Many people had gathered at the butcher" when the rubble fell, said Sakib Hossain, 50, who rushed out after hearing a loud bang.

Read more on Barron's

On this occasion, he has arrived in Australia looking laser focused and as fit as a butcher's dog.

Read more on BBC

“The grocer. The butcher. The man who sells feed for the chickens.”

Read more on Literature

The 1987 movie features Schwarzenegger’s Dutch leading a multiracial band of bros on a black ops mission to eliminate guerrillas in a Central American jungle, only to be butchered by an invisible stalker from space.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• slaughter