Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A slaughterhouse.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A public slaughter-house.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a building where animals are butchered

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from abattre, to strike down, from Old French; see abate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from French abattoir, from abattre ("to slaughter") (cognate to abate) + -oir ("-ory").

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Examples

  • Ablative somehow reminds me of the word abattoir, which is more disgusting than evil.

    Vote or Die! Mwaa-ha-ha-ha! Editorial Anonymous 2009

  • "The Killarney people are very disappointed because the opportunity to pick up work in town is very limited, the abattoir is the biggest employer in town," he said.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2010

  • The abattoir is a community owned facility and we want this to be a part of our community for

    Fort Frances Times Online - 2010

  • "The Killarney people are very disappointed because the opportunity to pick up work in town is very limited, the abattoir is the biggest employer in town," he said.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2010

  • Acknowledging the support of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Cokanasiga said the services of Dr. Ilagi Puana is quite valuable and has filled one the crucial point of meat preparation at the abattoir which is meat inspection.

    Fijilive.com - Gateway to Fiji Islands - News 2009

  • The issue of the abattoir was the straw that broke the camel's back, "he told reporters at DAP headquarters here today.

    Planet Malaysia 2009

  • The issue of the abattoir was the straw that broke the camel's back, "he told reporters at DAP headquarters here today.

    Lim Kit Siang 2009

  • "Fuck," said Svart Annika afterward, "It looks like an abattoir in here."

    Svart Annika and the Unicorn Frankie Sachs 2011

  • In the meanwhile Orinoco—her nails long since cleansed underneath but now painted in the darkest black cherry possible—had exercised the good sense to rely on thin even coats of sweet-scent morticians' wax to impart a semblance of freshness, pots of heavy black coffee each night to abate her abattoir breath, and incessant cigarettes to keep her lips warm.

    Penultimate Vampirekiller for 2012 strannikov 2012

  • She said that to appreciate Beauty you have to find it in the ugly, like a puppy running into traffic, ash from an abattoir sifted on the trees, a flower under a tractor wheel or an abandoned pram among other junk by the tracks.

    Melancholy Wrecks Brentley Frazer 2012

Comments

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  • The ox was slaughtered in the abattoir.

    December 3, 2006

  • I once lived in an old abattoir in Chicago. there were meathooks attached to the wood ceiling beams.

    December 5, 2006

  • "For the enlightenment of those who are not so intimately acquainted with the minutiae of the municipal abattoir ..."

    Joyce, Ulysses, 14

    January 22, 2007

  • One of those words that, to me, just does not sound like what it is--happily!

    July 11, 2007

  • I can never remember how to spell this.

    December 6, 2007

  • The French word hides the grisliness of the slaughterhouse.

    December 6, 2007

  • Good point. I don't think German fleischerei (butcher) hides anything, you can just about hear flesh being ripped apart.

    December 6, 2007

  • Perhaps because it contains the shriek of "schrei".

    December 6, 2007

  • "I've got the abattoir blues." - Nick Cave

    December 9, 2007

  • We REALLY need some Nick Cave lists. I nominate Kalli.

    December 9, 2007

  • Film critic Paul Arendt described Kill Bill Vol. 1 as "a barely watchable mess, a tangled montage of fashion gloss streaked in gore, a cocktail party in an abattoir."

    What an image.

    June 9, 2008

  • Fr. abattre "to beat down" (cf. abate)

    January 10, 2009

  • "And in between the news bulletins and the announcements, squalling military music and exhortations to respect the fallen by sending more men and women into the red throat of the abattoir." From The Wastelands by Stephen King.

    January 9, 2011