slaughter
- the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., especially for food.
- the brutal or violent killing of a person.
- the killing of great numbers of people or animals indiscriminately; carnage: the slaughter of war.
- to kill or butcher (animals), especially for food.
- to kill in a brutal or violent manner.
- to slay in great numbers; massacre.
- Informal. to defeat thoroughly; trounce: They slaughtered our team.
Origin of slaughter
Synonyms for slaughter
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for slaughtered
murder, torture, slay, liquidate, rout, massacre, butcher, crush, decimate, maim, destroy, mutilate, finish, overwhelm, stick, defeat, thrash, waste, mangle, vanquishExamples from the Web for slaughtered
Contemporary Examples of slaughtered
We are just coming off the midterm elections, too, where the Democrats got slaughtered.
Jon Stewart Talks ‘Rosewater’ and the ‘Chickensh-t’ Democrats’ Midterm MassacreMarlow Stern
November 9, 2014
Assad, for his part, has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own people, most likely with little regard for their dignity.
Or the Hutus who slaughtered their way through 800,000 Tutsis over the course of three months?
Last month, dozens were abducted and slaughtered—by the police.
A war in which Syrians have been slaughtered daily for years and the last images of Americans ended with their beheading.
Historical Examples of slaughtered
A lamb was slaughtered, green peas were picked, and a plum-pudding made.
On kin of Cain was the killing avenged by sovran God for slaughtered Abel.
BeowulfAnonymous
(p. 228) God have mercy on this wronged and slaughtered people.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863Adam Gurowski
The stranger with the crimson robe pursued, And slaughtered with axes and blades.
Y GododinAneurin
The Artaud butcher had just slaughtered Matthew, the pig, in the shed.
Abbe Mouret's TransgressionEmile Zola
slaughter
- the killing of animals, esp for food
- the savage killing of a person
- the indiscriminate or brutal killing of large numbers of people, as in war; massacre
- informal a resounding defeat
- to kill (animals), esp for food
- to kill in a brutal manner
- to kill indiscriminately or in large numbers
- informal to defeat resoundingly
Word Origin for slaughter
Word Origin and History for slaughtered
slaughter
c.1300, "killing of a cattle or sheep for food, killing of a person," from a Scandinavian *slahtr, akin to Old Norse slatr "a butchering, butcher meat," slatra "to slaughter," slattr "a mowing" from Proto-Germanic *slukhtis, related to Old Norse sla "to strike" (see slay (v.)) + formative suffix (cf. laugh/laughter). Meaning "killing of a large number of persons in battle" is attested from mid-14c. Old English had slieht "stroke, slaughter, murder, death; animals for slaughter;" cf. sliehtswyn "pig for killing."
slaughter
1530s, "butcher an animal for market," from slaughter (n.). Meaning "slay wantonly, ruthlessly, or in great numbers" is from 1580s. Related: Slaughtered; slaughtering.
Idioms and Phrases with slaughtered
slaughter
see like a lamb to the slaughter.