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slaughter

 - 6 dictionary results

slaugh⋅ter

  [slaw-ter]
Use slaughter in a Sentence
–noun
1. the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc., esp. for food.
2. the brutal or violent killing of a person.
3. the killing of great numbers of people or animals indiscriminately; carnage: the slaughter of war.
–verb (used with object)
4. to kill or butcher (animals), esp. for food.
5. to kill in a brutal or violent manner.
6. to slay in great numbers; massacre.
7. Informal. to defeat thoroughly; trounce: They slaughtered our team.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME slaghter, slahter, slauther (n.) < ON slātr, earlier slāttr, slahtr

Related forms:
slaugh⋅ter⋅er, noun
slaugh⋅ter⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
2. murder. 4–6. 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.

Slaugh⋅ter

  [slaw-ter]
–noun
Frank, 1908–2001, U.S. novelist and physician.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To slaughter
slaugh·ter   (slô'tər)   
n.  

  1. The killing of animals especially for food.

  2. The killing of a large number of people; a massacre: "I could not give my name to aid the slaughter in this war, fought on both sides for grossly material ends" (Sylvia Pankhurst).

tr.v.   slaugh·tered, slaugh·ter·ing, slaugh·ters

  1. To kill (animals) especially for food; butcher.

    1. To kill (people) in large numbers; massacre.

    2. To kill in a violent or brutal manner.


[Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse slātr, butchery.]
slaugh'ter·er n., slaugh'ter·ous adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
murder

and slaughter
  1. tv.
    to overwhelm; to beat someone in a sports contest. : We went out on the field prepared to slaughter them. The murdered us in the second half.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

slaughter 
c.1300, "killing of a cattle or sheep for food, killing of a person," from O.N. *slahtr, akin to slatr "a butchering, butcher meat," slatra "to slaughter," and slattr "a mowing;" related to sla "to strike" (see slay), from P.Gmc. *slukhtis. Meaning "killing of a large number of persons in battle" is attested from 1338. The verb is from 1535. Slaughter-house is from c.1374.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

slaughter

see like a lamb to the slaughter.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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