1
a
: a person who slaughters animals or dresses their flesh
b
: a dealer in meat
2
: one that kills ruthlessly or brutally
3
: one that bungles or botches
4
: a vendor especially on trains or in theaters
butchered; butchering
ˈbu̇-chə-riŋ 
ˈbu̇ch-
1
: to slaughter and dress for market
butcher hogs
2
: to kill in a barbarous manner
3
: botch
butchered the play
Examples of butcher in a Sentence
Noun
the newest intern on the campaign is a butcher when it comes to writing press releases
Verb
They've hired someone to butcher the hogs.
Many innocent people were butchered under his regime.
The band has butchered my favorite song.
Recent Examples on the Web
Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2025
This aunt would look into the ball and see the face of some distant relative, and then announce that the family would be having an unexpected visitor, before dispatching someone to the butcher’s to buy the very best pork chops for the occasion.
—Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
Susan Orlean, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2025
Multiple other locations in central Italy have butchered elephant remains, small stone tools, and larger modified bones.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for butcher
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
The water in the butcher section handwashing sink did not get hot enough.
—Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2025
This aunt would look into the ball and see the face of some distant relative, and then announce that the family would be having an unexpected visitor, before dispatching someone to the butcher’s to buy the very best pork chops for the occasion.
—Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
Bad books have been made into great movies, and many great books have been butchered on the screen.
—Susan Orlean, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2025
Multiple other locations in central Italy have butchered elephant remains, small stone tools, and larger modified bones.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for butcher
Cite this Entry
“Butcher.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/butcher. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
butcher
1 of 2 noun
butch·er
ˈbu̇ch-ər
1
a
: one whose business is killing animals for sale as food
b
: a dealer in meat
2
: a person who kills in large numbers or in a brutal manner
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share