Jump to:

• slaughter
  slaughter

  noun

  the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., especially for food.
• Slaughter
  Slaughter

  noun

  Frank, 1908–2001, U.S. novelist and physician.

slaughter

¹ American  

[slaw-ter] / ˈslɔ tər /

noun

1. the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., especially for food.

2. the brutal or violent killing of a person.

   Synonyms:

   murder

3. the killing of great numbers of people or animals indiscriminately; carnage.

   the slaughter of war.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to kill or butcher (animals), especially for food.

2. to kill in a brutal or violent manner.

3. to slay in great numbers; massacre.

4. Informal. to defeat thoroughly; trounce.

   They slaughtered our team.

Slaughter ² American  

[slaw-ter] / ˈslɔ tər /

noun

1. Frank, 1908–2001, U.S. novelist and physician.

---

slaughter British  

/ ˈslɔːtə /

noun

1. the killing of animals, esp for food

2. the savage killing of a person

3. the indiscriminate or brutal killing of large numbers of people, as in war; massacre

4. informal a resounding defeat

---

verb

1. to kill (animals), esp for food

2. to kill in a brutal manner

3. to kill indiscriminately or in large numbers

4. informal to defeat resoundingly

slaughter Idioms  

1. see like a lamb to the slaughter.

---

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

Explanation

Slaughter refers to the killing of large numbers of animals or people. When cattle are old enough, they're sent to slaughter and their meat is processed and shipped to stores. The noun slaughter was first used in the 1300s and comes from the Old Norse word slahtr, which also described the mass killing of animals or people. A verb form came along later, in the 1530s. You might hear slaughter used to describe the killing of large numbers of people in a war, a genocide, or a massacre. It also can be used figuratively to describe a crushing defeat, like the slaughter of your basketball team by your bitter rivals.

Example Sentences

Wales' Green leader Anthony Slaughter is a "record maker" in more ways than one as sees his party sit in the Welsh Parliament for the first time in its history.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter said some of his plans had been costed.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Green Anthony Slaughter said his party had revealed some costings while Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds said she would not as her plans were about "ambition".

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Why the Chargers drafted him: Despite Slaughter playing as a center in college, the Chargers are confident he can compete with Trevor Penning for a starting job at left guard.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

But Mother Slaughter had pushed into the ivy and was gone from sight.

From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

Related Words

• butcher
• crush
• decimate
• destroy
• liquidate
• maim
• massacre
• murder
• mutilate
• rout
• slay
• torture
• wipe out