Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Butcher
Butch′er
(bụch′ẽr)
, Noun.
[OE.
bochere
, bochier
, OF. bochier
, F. boucher
, orig., slaughterer of buck goats, fr. OF. boc
, F. bouc
, a buck goat; of German or Celtic origin. See Buck
the animal.] 1.
One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for food.
2.
A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in battle.
“Butcher of an innocent child.” Shak.
Butcher’s meat
, such flesh of animals slaughtered for food as is sold for that purpose by butchers, as beef, mutton, lamb, and pork.
Butch′er
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Butchered
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Butchering
.] 1.
To kill or slaughter (animals) for food, or for market;
as, to
. butcher
hogs2.
To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner.
Macaulay.
[Ithocles] was murdered, rather
butchered
. Ford.
☞ The
Lanius excubitor
is the common butcher bird of Europe. In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher bird
. The American species are Lanius borealis
, or northern butcher bird
, and Lanius Ludovicianus
or loggerhead shrike
. The name butcher bird
is derived from its habit of suspending its prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it. Webster 1828 Edition
Butcher
BUTCH'ER
, n.1.
One who slaughters animals for market; or one whose occupation is to kill animals for the table. The word may and often does include the person who cuts up and sells meat.2.
One who kills men, or commands troops to kill them; one who sheds, or causes to be shed human blood in abundance; applied to princes and conquerors who delight in war, or are remarkable for destroying human life.BUTCH'ER
,Verb.
T.
1.
To murder; but emphatically applied to murder committed with unusual cruelty, or circumstances of uncommon barbarity.Definition 2024
Butcher
butcher
butcher
See also: Butcher
English
Noun
butcher (plural butchers)
- A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
- He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days...
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
- (by extension) A brutal or indiscriminate killer.
- Shakespeare
- Butcher of an innocent child.
- Shakespeare
- (Cockney rhyming slang, from butcher's hook) A look.
- (informal, obsolete) A person who sells candy, drinks, etc. in theatres, trains, circuses, etc.
Derived terms
- butcherdom
- butcher's hook
- pork butcher
Translations
a person who prepares and sells meat
|
|
a brutal or indiscriminate killer
|
a person who sells candy, drinks, etc.
|
Verb
butcher (third-person singular simple present butchers, present participle butchering, simple past and past participle butchered)
- (transitive) To slaughter (animals) and prepare (meat) for market.
- (transitive) To kill brutally.
- (transitive) To ruin (something), often to the point of defamation.
- The band at that bar really butchered "Hotel California".
Synonyms
- (slaughter (animals)): kill, slaughter
- (kill brutally): massacre, slay
- (ruin, often to the point of defamation): murder
Translations
To slaughter animals and prepare meat for market
|
to kill brutally
To ruin something
Etymology 2
Adjective
butcher
- comparative form of butch: more butch
- 2003, Alisa Solomon, Re-Dressing the Canon: Essays on Theatre and Gender (page 170)
- Weaver and Shaw dance together and almost immediately another butch, an even butcher butch (Leslie Feinberg), cuts in to dance with Shaw (though Shaw would kill me if she heard me call someone a butcher butch).
- 2003, Alisa Solomon, Re-Dressing the Canon: Essays on Theatre and Gender (page 170)