butchery
Americannoun
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a slaughterhouse.
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brutal or wanton slaughter of animals or humans; carnage.
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the trade or business of a butcher.
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the act of bungling or botching.
noun
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the business or work of a butcher
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wanton and indiscriminate slaughter; carnage
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a less common word for slaughterhouse
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of butchery
1300–50; Middle English bocherie < Anglo-French, Middle French boucherie. See butcher, -y 3
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sally Lugg from Primrose Herd Butchery said her business had lost "at least £10,000".
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
Shanghai-based retailer Swiss Butchery said it had stocked up on American beef as Australian supplies became less reliable.
From Reuters • Oct. 1, 2021
"Nine out of 10 people want the small birds," Jered Standing, the owner of Standing's Butchery in Hollywood, told the Los Angeles Times.
From Salon • Nov. 22, 2020
The “Horse Butchery Site” in Schoningen, Germany, features thousands of sets of animal remains from the Middle Paleolithic.
From Slate • Nov. 5, 2019
His widow built four almshouses at Butchery Green, long ago decayed.
From Hertfordshire by New, E. H. (Edmund Hort)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
