butcher

American  

[booch-er] / ˈbʊtʃ ər /

noun

butchers plural

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)

butchers, present (3rd person singular) butchered, past participle, past butchering present participle

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

Synonym Usage

See slaughter.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• butcherer
  noun
• unbutchered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• butchers
  plural

Participles

• butchering
  present
• butchered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• butcher
  simple
• butchers
  simple
• have butchered
  perfect
• has butchered
  perfect
• am butchering
  progressive
• are butchering
  progressive
• is butchering
  progressive
• have been butchering
  perfect progressive
• has been butchering
  perfect progressive

Past

• butchered
  simple
• had butchered
  perfect
• was butchering
  progressive
• were butchering
  progressive
• had been butchering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will butcher
  simple
• will have butchered
  perfect
• will be butchering
  progressive
• will have been butchering
  perfect progressive

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

As M.M. evolves from sidekick to central character, he also begins to behave more like Butcher, forcing him to wrestle with the erosion of his idealistic principles.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

Not long after that, Hughie realizes Butcher also needs to be laid low to prevent more suffering.

From Salon • May 24, 2026

Lidia Butcher gives a toolbox and worktable her two sons used to Chelsea Ward for her 17-month-old son.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

Ms Butcher said pupils were punished for actions such as stopping at a shop on the way home in uniform, carrying their mobile phone or wearing the wrong colour socks.

From BBC • Dec. 9, 2025

I step quick past Binga State Bank, the Jackson Funeral Home, and Saul’s Butcher Shop with rows of baloney lined up in the window like a curtain.

From "Finding Langston" by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Related Words

• slaughter