Definition of massacre
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty
witnessed the massacre of a boatload of refugees
2 : a cruel or wanton (see wanton entry 1 sense 1a) murder
3 : a wholesale slaughter of animals
Residents engaged in a citywide cat massacre.
4 : an act of complete destruction
the author's massacre of traditional federalist presuppositions— R. G. McCloskey the Puritan massacre of statues and pictures— Robert Hughes
massacre
verbDefinition of massacre (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : to kill by massacre
2 : mangle sense 2 words were misspelled and syntax massacred— Bice Clemow
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Time Traveler for massacre
The first known use of massacre was circa 1578
See more words from the same year