mass murder

[mas mur-der]

noun

1. the act of killing a number of people in a single incident or over a short time period, involving more than two victims and typically a large number: The individual motives for mass murder vary greatly.

   He has written about mass murder by totalitarian regimes.

   The individual motives for mass murder vary greatly.

   The article is about five victims of a mass murder.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mass murder¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

A teenager who planned to carry out mass murder in a terror attack at a mosque in Greenock has been sentenced to 10 years in custody.

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“But our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder.”

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She has been charged with committing crimes against humanity, including issuing orders that led to mass killings and targeted violence against civilians, as well as incitement, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder.

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“Normally, I would agree that diplomacy is better than isolating an adversary,” Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, founding president of Genocide Watch, a group that aims to predict and punish targeted mass murder, told Salon.

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The scenes at Bondi sent shockwaves across the nation, where mass murder is rare, and prompted a rush of anger and fear from women in particular.

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Related Words

• bloodbath 
• carnage 
• extermination www.thesaurus.com
• genocide 
• massacre 
• slaughter