as in massacre
the killing of a large number of people
all civilized nations should protest this senseless slaughter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in to massacre
to kill on a large scale
modern poultry farms slaughter a vast number of chickens every day
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of slaughter
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
Enter Harriet Hemenway and her cousin Minna Hall, two Boston socialites who read about the egret slaughter and decided enough was enough.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2025
Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 16 Oct. 2025
Giving up 1,700 terrorist hostages from Israel, basically create a potential pathway to statehood, because of an invasion two years ago that slaughtered Israelis, there's a lot here that still has to play out.
—NBC news, 5 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slaughter
Noun
August saw a 10 percent decline in cattle slaughter, the largest year-over-year decline for any month in 2025, according to the agency’s report.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
Enter Harriet Hemenway and her cousin Minna Hall, two Boston socialites who read about the egret slaughter and decided enough was enough.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
Butchering an animal for meat — slaughtering cows, pigs, lambs — was an act of necessity, not pleasure.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 16 Oct. 2025
Giving up 1,700 terrorist hostages from Israel, basically create a potential pathway to statehood, because of an invasion two years ago that slaughtered Israelis, there's a lot here that still has to play out.
—NBC news, 5 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slaughter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slaughter
Noun
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The horrifying reports of the massacre of hundreds of Sudanese civilians after the Darfur city of El Fasher was captured by the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last week were the latest chapter in a brutal conflict that has killed more than 150,000 people over the past two and a half years.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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The first of the previous massacres in Darfur occurred in the town of El Geneina, in April, 2023; fifteen thousand unarmed civilians were killed.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New Yorker,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Within a few years of leaving Texas, Rauschenberg had upended everything the place had meant to him, smashing through the parochialism of small-town Southern life, where necks were broken in Jesus’ name, and families indentured or murdered.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
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However, ruthless bounty hunter Leo Bonhart has already murdered the gang.—
Griff Griffin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Slaughter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slaughter. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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