slaughter

slaugh·ter

Use slaughter in a sentence

Cattle getting herded before going to slaughter.

verb

Slaughter is defined as to kill animals or people in large numbers or in a brutal way.

An example of to slaughter is pigs being killed to be sold as pork.

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"Slaughter." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/SLAUGHTER.

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Slaughter. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/SLAUGHTER

slaughter

the killing of an animal or animals for food; butchering
the killing of a human being, esp. in a brutal manner
the killing of people in large numbers, as in battle
Informal a complete defeat or victory

Origin of slaughter

Middle English slahter from Old Norse sl?tr, literally , slain flesh, contr. from slattr, akin to Old English sleaht, slaughter, death: for Indo-European base see slay

to kill (an animal or animals) for food; butcher
to kill (people), esp. brutally or in large numbers
Informal to conquer or defeat completely

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MLA Style

"Slaughter." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/SLAUGHTER.

APA Style

Slaughter. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/SLAUGHTER

slaughter

noun

The killing of animals especially for food.
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 )

transitive verb

slaugh·tered, slaugh·ter·ing, slaugh·ters

To kill (animals) especially for food; butcher.
a. To kill (people) in large numbers; massacre.
b. To kill in a violent or brutal manner.

Origin of slaughter

Middle English of Scandinavian origin Old Norse slātr butchery

Related Forms:

slaugh′ter·er
noun

slaugh′ter·ous
adjective

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Slaughter." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/SLAUGHTER.

APA Style

Slaughter. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/SLAUGHTER

Noun

(uncountable)

(uncountable) The killing of animals, generally for food; ritual slaughter (kosher and halal).
A massacre; the killing of a large number of people.
A rout or decisive defeat.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present slaughters, present participle slaughtering, simple past and past participle slaughtered)