butchery
Americannoun
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butcheries
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
Kakuta's restaurant has its own butchery, supplying bear meat dishes to a nearby hotel.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
The building’s large main kitchen accommodates multiple classes, among them production baking and butchery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2025
A member of the public had told the authority of their concerns and environmental health officers found rat droppings in "all food handling and storage areas, particularly in the butchery and basement".
From BBC ● May 10, 2025
It was there that I came to see the possibilities in a robust whole-animal butchery program and a more radical approach to sourcing ingredients.
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2025
‘Men,’ I shouted, ‘man the oars and pull till your hearts break if you would put this butchery behind!’
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Bennett-Parker said she researched some of Mused’s 14 other butcheries, calling neighbors and even visiting Philadelphia.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2019
Horse-eating, or hippophagy, became popular in Europe in the 19th century, when famines caused several governments to license horse butcheries.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2011
He wants to exorcise the great butcheries of humanity.
From Time Magazine Archive
We hold back from the leap of despair that would let us see that human society always carries within it the capacity to commit such butcheries and think well of itself.
From Time Magazine Archive
Men shall wear softer hearts, And shudder at the butcheries of war, As now at other murders.
From Poems by William Cullen Bryant
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
