slaughterhouse

[ slaw-ter-hous ]

/ ˈslɔ tərˌhaʊs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slaughterhouse ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural slaugh·ter·hous·es [slaw-ter-hou-ziz] /ˈslɔ tərˌhaʊ zɪz/.

a building or place where animals are butchered for food; abattoir.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

slattern, slatternly, slatting, slaty, slaughter, slaughterhouse, slaughterman, slaughterous, slaughterously, slav, slav.

Origin of slaughterhouse

1325–75; Middle English slautherhus; see slaughter, house

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for slaughterhouse

He was also able to visit a slaughterhouse for the first time.
The Bioethicist Turned Butcher|Elizabeth Picciuto|September 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And played with the wide eyes of actress Taylor Schilling, Piper was like Bambi being thrown into the slaughterhouse.
‘Orange Is the New Black’ Season Two Is More Bingeworthy Than the First|Kevin Fallon|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He plans to then get a new horse that likely would otherwise be bound for the slaughterhouse.
Central Park’s Carriages Saved This Horse|Michael Daly|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In one slaughterhouse sample of 150 horses, 40 percent needed more than one shot, sometimes collapsing only to rise again.
Central Park’s Carriages Saved This Horse|Michael Daly|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The detectives detained Chen and went inside to discover a home that had been turned to a slaughterhouse with a meat cleaver.
Brooklyn Mother, Four Children Allegedly Slain by Jealous Cousin|Michael Daly|October 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The streets in this vicinity were literally a slaughterhouse.
The Invasion|William Le Queux
Here is the brewhouse, quite unaltered; but the Warden's house has absorbed the old bakehouse, slaughterhouse, and butcher's room.
Winchester|Sidney Heath
Delicately nurtured girls could be seen working at the slaughterhouse among the entrails and offal for twelve hours on end.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1|Henry Baerlein
See here, seorito, are you going to the slaughterhouse to skin something?
Maximina|Armando Palacio Valds
Jack, holding his nose, for the stench of the slaughterhouse was terrible, advanced to see what it was.
The Harlequin Opal, Vol. 2 (of 3)|Fergus Hume

British Dictionary definitions for slaughterhouse

slaughterhouse

/ (ˈslɔːtəˌhaʊs) /

noun

a place where animals are butchered for food; abattoir

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for slaughterhouse

slaughterhouse

also slaughter-house, late 14c., "place where animals are butchered for market," from slaughter (n.) + house (n.). The Slaughter-house cases in U.S. history were 1873.