butcher

[ booch-er ]

/ ˈbʊtʃ ər /

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noun

a retail or wholesale dealer in meat.

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

a person guilty of brutal or indiscriminate slaughter or murder.

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

verb (used with object)

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

to kill indiscriminately or brutally.

to bungle; botch: to butcher a job.

OTHER WORDS FOR butcher

3 killer, cutthroat.

See synonyms for butcher on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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 buck¹) + -ier-ier² (see -er²)

synonym study for butcher

5, 6. See slaughter.

OTHER WORDS FROM butcher

butch·er·er, nounun·butch·ered, adjective

Words nearby butcher

butanoic acid, butanol, butanone, Butazolidin, butch, butcher, butcherbird, butcher block, butcher knife, butcher linen, butcherly

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use butcher in a sentence

Bill, full name William Poole, was a real life butcher, skilled with knives and raised in the art of street fighting.
Brooklyn’s Gangster Graveyard|Nina Strochlic|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They could fix things and grow things and work with animals and do medical things and butcher pigs and put up preserves.
Tony Earley's Imaginary Friends|Mindy Farabee|September 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His family ran a butcher shop in a part of town so tough that their specialty was broken leg of lamb.
Toledo: The Town Too Tough for Toxic Water|P. J. O’Rourke|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is sold by the pound, cut to order, and presented not on a plate but on a sheet of butcher paper.
The Texas Church of Beef|Jane & Michael Stern|April 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

One veteran tiger butcher, who was turned into the authorities, was reported to have killed more than ten tigers since 2007.
Why Do Chinese Oligarchs Secretly Love Illegal Tiger Meat?|Jake Adelstein|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A was an Archer, who shot at a frog; B was a Butcher, and had a great dog.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
A butcher's boy, running against a gentleman with his tray, made him exclaim, "The deuce take the tray!"
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
She's too old for beef, or the butcher would; and she makes out to get her livin' without botherin' nobody much.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
For all his vaunted scorn of being a butcher at a price, now that he heard the price he seemed not half so scornful.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
A butcher scalds a hog to make the hair come off more easily (Bell).
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer

British Dictionary definitions for butcher

butcher

/ (ˈbʊtʃə) /

noun

a retailer of meat

a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market

an indiscriminate or brutal murderer

a person who destroys, ruins, or bungles something

verb (tr)

to slaughter or dress (animals) for meat

to kill indiscriminately or brutally

to make a mess of; botch; ruin

Word Origin for butcher

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

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

butcher

OTHER WORDS FOR butcher

Origin of butcher

synonym study for butcher

OTHER WORDS FROM butcher

Words nearby butcher

Words related to butcher

How to use butcher in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for butcher

Word Origin for butcher