butcher

[ booch-er ]

noun

1. a retail or wholesale dealer in meat.
2. a person who slaughters certain animals, or who dresses the flesh of animals, fish, or poultry, for food or market.
3. a person guilty of brutal or indiscriminate slaughter or murder.

   Synonyms: cutthroat, killer

4. a vendor who hawks newspapers, candy, beverages, etc., as on a train, at a stadium, etc.

verb (used with object)

1. to slaughter or dress (animals, fish, or poultry) for market.
2. to kill indiscriminately or brutally.
3. to bungle; botch:

   to butcher a job.

butcher

/ ˈbʊtʃə /

noun

1. a retailer of meat
2. a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market
3. an indiscriminate or brutal murderer
4. a person who destroys, ruins, or bungles something

verb

1. to slaughter or dress (animals) for meat
2. to kill indiscriminately or brutally
3. to make a mess of; botch; ruin

Other Words From

• butcher·er noun
• un·butchered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of butcher¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bocher, from Anglo-French; Old French bo(u)chier, equivalent to bo(u)c “he-goat” (from unattested Gaulish bucco-; compare Old Irish boc, Welsh bwch; akin to buck ¹ ) + -ier -ier ² ( -er ² )

Word History and Origins

Origin of butcher¹

C13: from Old French bouchier , from bouc he-goat, probably of Celtic origin; see buck ¹; compare Welsh bwch he-goat

Synonym Study

See slaughter.

Example Sentences

Fields, nicknamed 'The Butcher', arrives wearing a butcher's apron.

From BBC

A 9-year-old girl who fell in love with the goat she raised for the Shasta District Fair was heartbroken when deputies, wielding a search warrant, confiscated the furry livestock, taking him away to be butchered.

From Los Angeles Times

When they wake, there's an abundance of food to find, and countless butchers from whom to seek scraps.

From Salon

Its carcass has since been ferried in a canoe to the palace of one of the Emir of Yauri's high-ranking administrators, where it has been butchered and its meat given to those in local community.

From BBC

For references, he listed the mayor, the butcher, the dairyman and the service station operator, and his mother signed papers saying that she wouldn’t request his early discharge.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• mutilate