Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The killing of animals especially for food.
- n. 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).
- v. To kill (animals) especially for food; butcher.
- v. To kill (people) in large numbers; massacre.
- v. To kill in a violent or brutal manner.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of slaying or killing, especially of many persons or animals. Applied to persons, a violent putting to death; ruthless, wanton, or brutal killing; great destruction of life by violent means; carnage; massacre: as, the slaughter of men in battle.
- n. Applied to beasts, butchery; the killing of oxen, sheep, or other animals for market.
- n. Great or sweeping reduction in the price of goods offered for sale.
- n. Synonyms Havoc. See kill.
- To kill; slay; especially, to kill wantonly, ruthlessly, or in great numbers; massacre: as, to slaughter men in battle.
- To butcher; kill, as animals for the market or for food: as, to slaughter oxen or sheep. Synonyms Slay, Massacre, etc. See
kill .
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable The killing of animals, generally for food; ritual slaughter (kosher and halal).
- n. A massacre; the killing of a large number of people.
- n. A rout or decisive defeat.
- v. transitive To butcher animals, generally for food
- v. transitive To massacre people in large numbers
- v. transitive To kill in a particularly brutal manner
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The extensive, violent, bloody, or wanton destruction of life; carnage.
- n. The act of killing cattle or other beasts for market.
- v. To visit with great destruction of life; to kill; to slay in battle.
- v. To butcher; to kill for the market, as beasts.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the savage and excessive killing of many people
- n. the killing of animals (as for food)
- n. a sound defeat
- v. kill (animals) usually for food consumption
- v. kill a large number of people indiscriminately
Etymologies
- From Old Norse slátr, from Proto-Germanic *sluHtís. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse slātr, butchery. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This slaughter is the first one in history in which it is argued (by the IDF) that there are no civilians.”
Israeli TV airs call to father after children killed « Antiwar.com Blog
“The real reason for this slaughter is they are over-fishing and want to kill the competition for the fish.”
“Hitler made the same efforts to stir his people to fury against what he called the slaughter of Germans in Poland and in Czechoslovakia and the conspiracies of the Jews and the West.”
“There was a statement coming from the Islamist militants, rejoicing in what they called the slaughter of yet another American hostage.”
“Katshi said, complaining the world body had done nothing to prevent what he called the slaughter of Congolese civilians by foreign armies.”
“The most penetrating and iconoclastic response to this sort of reasoning came from the writer Isaac Bashevis Singer in his story "The Letter Writer," in which he called the slaughter of animals the "eternal Treblinka.”
“Massacre manqué, we might call it – slaughter in all but a good aim.”
“Indeed, slaughter is something meat-eaters don't want to think too much about.”
The Huffington Post: Bruce Friedrich: Does Eating Meat Support Bestiality?
“They have continued with the dolphin slaughter this year, and there has been a quiet standoff between the protesters and the fishermen.”
“Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin promoted hunting of wolves from helicopters, even though aerial slaughter is essentially a glorified shooting gallery and is banned just about everywhere in the nation.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘slaughter’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
wrath, leaf, belly, prey, death, break, six, nod, dim, end, inn, judge and 1286 more...
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Vocab2
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
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Viking Words
From http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/10/viking-words-in-english/
anger, birth, bleak, bloom, call, cast, crawl, crook, die, fellow, gear, get and 36 more...
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Naresh_Gre
The path meanders through the vineyards
meander, labyrinth, Sinuous, gyrate, caron, awry, credo, banter, juxtaposition, argot, inexorable, foibles and 223 more...
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2012-11-16
hassle, carry-on, aerosol, gel, bombard, hijack, lamb, slaughter
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The "dark" things
grave, dead, death, die, died, dies, murder, murdered, murderer, murders, murdering, murderous and 115 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Vocab 2
Vocab from lesson 2.
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
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vocab2
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
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vocabulary; lesson #2.
My Wordly Wise vocabulary lesson 2 word list.
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
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Lesson 2
Lesson 2 vocab list
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
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lesson 2
vocabulary
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
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Vocab Lesson 2: Kyle Zelenitz
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
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Vocab 2:)
astute, authentic, delicacy, derogatory, devour, figment, mythical, plumage, predatory, prior, scavenge, slaughter and 3 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for slaughter.
bilby "Selling horses for slaughter was an option when the country had facilities to take them, Butcher said, but now people are left with the cost of euthanasia plus disposal fees that can run into hundreds of dollars - if they don't decide to abandon the animals. Horse slaughter 'would be an incredible industry for Montana', generating jobs not just in the killings but also in areas such as preparation of meat for sale in Europe and packaging of dog food, he said."
- AP, Montana legislator pushes for horse slaughterhouse, billingsgazette.net, 2 Feb 2009.
The appropriately named Butcher of the story is Montana Republican Rep. Ed Butcher. Feb 11, 2009