massacre

¹mas·sa·cre

noun \ˈma-si-kər\

Definition of MASSACRE

1

: the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty

2

: a cruel or wanton murder

3

: a wholesale slaughter of animals

4

: an act of complete destruction <the author's massacre of traditional federalist presuppositions — R. G. McCloskey>

Examples of MASSACRE

1. The game turned out to be a complete massacre.
2. <the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota>

Origin of MASSACRE

Middle French

First Known Use: circa 1578

Related to MASSACRE

Synonyms: bloodbath, butchery, carnage, death, holocaust, slaughter

Related Words: bloodletting, bloodshed, foul play, homicide, killing, manslaughter, murder, slaying; mortality; annihilation, decimation, demolishing, destruction, devastation, eradication, extermination; genocide, pogrom; assassination, execution

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