slaughter
1 Americannoun
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the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., especially for food.
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the brutal or violent killing of a person.
- Synonyms:
- murder
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the killing of great numbers of people or animals indiscriminately; carnage.
the slaughter of war.
verb (used with object)
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to kill or butcher (animals), especially for food.
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to kill in a brutal or violent manner.
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to slay in great numbers; massacre.
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Informal. to defeat thoroughly; trounce.
They slaughtered our team.
noun
noun
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the killing of animals, esp for food
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the savage killing of a person
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the indiscriminate or brutal killing of large numbers of people, as in war; massacre
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informal a resounding defeat
verb
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to kill (animals), esp for food
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to kill in a brutal manner
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to kill indiscriminately or in large numbers
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informal to defeat resoundingly
Related Words
Slaughter, butcher, massacre all imply violent and bloody methods of killing. Slaughter and butcher, primarily referring to the killing of animals for food, are used also of the brutal or indiscriminate killing of human beings: to slaughter cattle; to butcher a hog. Massacre indicates a general slaughtering of helpless or unresisting victims: to massacre the peasants of a region.
Other Word Forms
- slaughterer noun
- slaughteringly adverb
- slaughterous adjective
- unslaughtered adjective
Etymology
Origin of slaughter
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English slaghter, slahter, slauther (noun), from Old Norse slātr, earlier slāttr, slahtr
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.
A vivid memory for Sanchez is his grandfather slaughtering a pig and driving around South-Central on his pickup truck selling it.
From Los Angeles Times
Wolves have since recolonized the state — a development hailed by conservationists as an ecological win but derided by many ranchers whose cattle are slaughtered by the skilled pack hunters.
From Los Angeles Times
By 1913, Mrs Graham's father's farm would instead slaughter and rough-pluck the birds, putting them on trains in wicker crates to arrive in London a week later.
From BBC
Truckers, feedlot operators and cattle ranchers face hits to their bottom line without the Lexington facility, which slaughters up to 5,000 cattle a day.
The government's policy of slaughtering entire herds where a single animal has been infected has run up against bitter opposition from two of the three main farmers' unions.
From BBC
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.
