butchery
Americannoun
plural
butcheries-
a slaughterhouse.
-
brutal or wanton slaughter of animals or humans; carnage.
-
the trade or business of a butcher.
-
the act of bungling or botching.
noun
-
the business or work of a butcher
-
wanton and indiscriminate slaughter; carnage
-
a less common word for slaughterhouse
Etymology
Origin of butchery
1300–50; Middle English bocherie < Anglo-French, Middle French boucherie. See butcher, -y 3
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.
Kakuta's restaurant has its own butchery, supplying bear meat dishes to a nearby hotel.
From Barron's • Dec. 24, 2025
After always working for other people in the butchery industry, Mr Field, 47, thought he would try and go it alone and run his own shop after an opportunity arose.
From BBC • Sep. 12, 2025
It was there that I came to see the possibilities in a robust whole-animal butchery program and a more radical approach to sourcing ingredients.
From Salon • Feb. 4, 2025
Signs of butchery on the bones, along with stone tools and other evidence, indicate that Taguatagua 3 represents a temporary camp established around the task of processing the large carcass.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2024
It was pleasant to think that men still sang, even in the midst of butchery and famine.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
