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Slaughter vs Butcher - What's the difference?

slaughter | butcher |

Butcher is a synonym of slaughter.



In transitive terms the difference between slaughter and butcher

is that slaughter is to kill in a particularly brutal manner while butcher is to ruin (something), often to the point of defamation.

slaughter

Alternative forms

* (l) (obsolete)

Noun

(-)
  • (uncountable) The killing of animals, generally for food; ritual slaughter (kosher and halal).
  • A massacre; the killing of a large number of people.
  • * Milton
  • on war and mutual slaughter bent
  • A rout or decisive defeat.
  • Derived terms

    * kosher slaughter * lamb to the slaughter/like a lamb to the slaughter/come like a lamb to the slaughter * manslaughter * ritual slaughter * slaughterer * slaughterhouse * slaughterman * slaughterous

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To butcher animals, generally for food
  • To massacre people in large numbers
  • To kill in a particularly brutal manner
  • butcher

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
  • * 1900', , Chapter I,
  • He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days...
  • (by extension) A brutal or indiscriminate killer.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Butcher of an innocent child.
  • (Cockney rhyming slang, from butcher's hook) A look.
  • (informal, obsolete) A person who sells candy, drinks, etc. in theatres, trains, circuses, etc.
  • Derived terms

    * * butcher's hook * pork butcher

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To slaughter (animals) and prepare (meat) for market.
  • To kill brutally.
  • To ruin (something), often to the point of defamation.
  • The band at that bar really butchered "Hotel California".

    Synonyms

    * kill, slaughter * (kill brutally) massacre, slay * murder