Etymology : Middle English bocher, from Old French bouchier, from bouc he-goat, probably of Celtic origin; akin to Middle Irish bocc he-goat; more at BUCK
Pronunciation : 'bu-ch&r
Function : noun
Date : 13th century
1. meat cutter, meat slaughterer, owner of a meat shop; murderer. kill, slaughter (an animal); murder indiscriminately. butcher\butch"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. butchered ; p. pr. & vb. n. butchering.].
2. to kill or slaughter (animals) for food, or for market; as, to butcher hogs.
3. to murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner. [ithocles] was murdered, rather butchered.butcher \butch"er\ , n. [oe. bochere, bochier, of. bochier, f. boucher, orig., slaughterer of buck goats, fr. of. boc, f. bouc, a buck goat; of german or celtic origin. see:
buck the animal.].
4. one who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for food.
5. a slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in battle. "butcher of an innocent child."butcher bird (zo?l.), a species of shrike of the genus lanius.note: the lanius excubitor is the common butcher bird of europe. in england, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher bird. the american species are l.borealis, or northern butcher bird, and l. ludovicianus or loggerhead shrike. the name butcher bird is derived from its habit of suspending its prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it.
6. One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for food.
7. A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in battle.
8. To kill or slaughter for food, or for market; as, to butcher hogs.
9. To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner. a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market a brutal indiscriminate murderer a retailer of meat kill usually for food consumption; "They slaughtered their only goat to survive the winter".
10. 1. A butcher is a shopkeeper who cuts up and sells meat. Some butchers also kill animals for meat and make foods such as sausages and meat pies.
11. A butcher or a butcher's is a shop where meat is sold.
12. To butcher an animal means to kill it and cut it up for meat. Pigs were butchered, hams were hung to dry from the ceiling.
13. disapproval You can refer to someone as a butcher when they have killed a lot of people in a very cruel way, and you want to express your horror and disgust. Klaus Barbie was known in France as the Butcher of Lyon.
14. disapproval You can say that someone has butchered people when they have killed a lot of people in a very cruel way, and you want to express your horror and disgust. Guards butchered 1,350 prisoners = slaughter.