butcher

[booch-er]

noun

1. a retail or wholesale dealer in meat.

2. a person who slaughters certain animals, or who dresses the flesh of animals, fish, or poultry, for food or market.

3. a person guilty of brutal or indiscriminate slaughter or murder.

   Synonyms: cutthroat, killer

4. a vendor who hawks newspapers, candy, beverages, etc., as on a train, at a stadium, etc.

verb (used with object)

1. to slaughter or dress (animals, fish, or poultry) for market.

2. to kill indiscriminately or brutally.

3. to bungle; botch.

   to butcher a job.

butcher

/ ˈbʊtʃə /

noun

1. a retailer of meat

2. a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market

3. an indiscriminate or brutal murderer

4. a person who destroys, ruins, or bungles something

verb

1. to slaughter or dress (animals) for meat

2. to kill indiscriminately or brutally

3. to make a mess of; botch; ruin

Other Word Forms

• butcherer noun
• unbutchered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of butcher¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bocher, from Anglo-French; Old French bo(u)chier, equivalent to bo(u)c “he-goat” (from unattested Gaulish bucco-; compare Old Irish boc, Welsh bwch; akin to buck ¹ ) + -ier -ier ² ( -er ² )

Word History and Origins

Origin of butcher¹

C13: from Old French bouchier , from bouc he-goat, probably of Celtic origin; see _buck ¹ ; compare Welsh bwch he-goat

Synonym Study

See slaughter.

Example Sentences

She wasn’t a fan of any of the contemporary maternity clothes, writing that stores only offered “‘butcher boy’ dresses with an ugly hole cut out in the skirt.”

From Los Angeles Times

Far from L.A.’s suburban sprawl, a Salton Sea butcher is haunted by the disappearance of girls in a novel suffused in Latina and Indigenous cultures.

From Los Angeles Times

He sent tens of thousands of dollars to Mexico: to fund improvements on his parents’ house, to buy machines for the family butcher shop.

From Los Angeles Times

Ms Munch disagrees with the expropriation plans because they include the centre of the village, encompassing the residents' homes and shared businesses including a restaurant, hotel, bakery, butchers and a dairy.

From BBC

"We have had individual sheep slaughtered and butchered to a very high standard at the side of the road."

From BBC

Related Words

• slaughter