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Synonyms

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

"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

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

"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
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

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.

CO2 is a key part of food and drink production and is used to stun livestock during slaughter as well as in packaging to keep food fresh, and in fizzy drinks.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Mexico accounted for 3% to 4% of U.S. cattle slaughter in 2024.

From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026

Those who lived in the countryside were more likely to cherish memories of lard than olive oil; having a pig to slaughter could get a struggling family through the year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

The biggest mistake one could make in analyzing this corporate slaughter is to lay the blame solely on the state of journalism.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2026

For Manolo, I lifted out the bad news like a fish bone, and gave him the promising tidbit—that the gringos were working with a group to slaughter the goat for the picnic.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

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.