slaughter

noun slaugh·ter \ ˈslȯ-tər \

|Updated on: 18 Aug 2018

Examples: slaughter in a Sentence

Definition of slaughter

1 : the act of killing; specifically : the butchering of livestock for market

2 : killing of great numbers of human beings (as in battle or a massacre) : carnage

See slaughter defined for English-language learners

See slaughter defined for kids

Examples of slaughter in a Sentence

the slaughter of innocent people
all civilized nations should protest this senseless slaughter

Recent Examples of slaughter from the Web

Turtles awaiting slaughter were kept in plain sight in bamboo pens on the beach.

— New York Times, "Saving Turtles in Bali, Egg by Precious Egg," 7 July 2018
The gas also can have an anaesthetic effect, so meat processing plants use it to stun animals before slaughter.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "A Carbon Dioxide Shortage Is Threatening the U.K.’s Supply of Beer and Crumpets," 3 July 2018
Scotland’s biggest pig abattoir was forced to close because of shortages of the gas, which is used to stun the animals before slaughter.

— billy perrigo, Time, "Brits Are Running Low on Crumpets and Beer as CO2 in Short Supply," 2 July 2018
Some of these refugees have told stories of mass slaughter and rape, villages being burned, and families exterminated by Myanmar military forces.

— aj willingham, CNN, "5 things for June 1: Presidential pardons, tariffs, Samantha Bee," 1 June 2018
Instead, slaughter would take place in the countries of the animals' origin, and the meat would be imported.

— Jewish Journal, "New bill will end Israeli imports of live animals for meat," 11 July 2018
The seasoned diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to NATO has no illusions about the reasons for the slaughter, which began after a revolution in Ukraine brought a pro-Western government to power in Kiev.

— simon shuster, Time, "Trump's Envoy to Ukraine Urges U.S. Not to Forget Russia's War as Putin Summit Looms," 9 July 2018
There’s a story that ties it to a slaughter of Native Americans that took place nearby hundreds of years ago.

— scott berson, miamiherald, "PETA asked mayor to change Slaughter Beach's name. He told them to 'stay in their lane' | Miami Herald," 2 May 2018
Sometimes a conservation image has the singular capacity to shock or anger, such as the Japanese dolphin slaughter.

— National Geographic, "32 Astonishing Photos From a Career Spent Underwater," 13 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'slaughter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of slaughter

Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse slātra to slaughter; akin to Old English sleaht slaughter, slēan to slay — more at slay

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

slaughter Synonyms

Synonyms

bloodbath, butchery, carnage, death, holocaust, massacre;

annihilation, decimation, eradication, extermination;

genocide, pogrom;

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut

slaughter

verb

Definition of slaughter

slaughtered; slaughtering; slaughters

transitive verb

1 : to kill (animals) for food : butcher

2 a : to kill in a bloody or violent manner : slay

b : to kill in large numbers : massacre

3 : to discredit, defeat, or demolish completely

—

slaughterer

play \ˈslȯ-tər-ər\ noun

See slaughter defined for English-language learners

Examples of slaughter in a Sentence

Our team got slaughtered yesterday.
modern poultry farms slaughter a vast number of chickens every day

Recent Examples of slaughter from the Web

The gas is used in a wide range of ways, including to give beer and soft drinks their fizzy quality, and to stun animals before they are slaughtered.

— amie tsang, New York Times, "U.K. Fears for Its Beer and Crumpets. Blame a Carbon Dioxide Shortage.," 29 June 2018
Pork producers fear being slaughtered by Mexico tariffs.

— Fox News, "FOX NEWS FIRST: Comey's new scrutiny; Mystery illness afflicts Americans in China; Rudy: Kim 'begged' for summit," 7 June 2018
The fights break out when hundreds of African Matabele ants march off to raid a nearby termite mound to slaughter termite workers and haul them back to the nest to feed the colony.

— kiona n. smith, Ars Technica, "In wars with termites, ants rescue and care for their wounded," 14 Feb. 2018
Filling the nation’s courts with conservative justices is a unifying principle for the Republican Party and appears to be the one sacred cow that even Trump won’t slaughter.

— matt ford, The New Republic, "A Watershed Moment in American History," 10 July 2018
That brings to at least 127 the number of people who have been slaughtered since protests began in April against the authoritarian rule of President Daniel Ortega.

— The Economist, "Politics this week," 7 June 2018
The number of Yellowstone bison reached a record 5,500 in 2016, and about 2,300 of the animals have been slaughtered and hunted since then, according to park officials.

— Washington Post, "Yellowstone launches program to establish new bison herds," 16 May 2018
Beyond beer, the CO2 shortage is also impacting the region’s meat industry, as the gas is used to stun animals before they are slaughtered.

— chris morris, Fortune, "The UK Is Rationing Beer Because of a CO2 Shortage," 27 June 2018
In 2005, shocked by how widespread bear farming had become, Vietnam outlawed the extraction of bile while allowing farms to keep existing animals so they weren’t just slaughtered.

— author: simon denyer, Anchorage Daily News, "From hemorrhoids to hangovers: Bear bile is treasured in China, and that’s bad for captive bears," 3 June 2018

First Known Use of slaughter

1535

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

slaughter Synonyms

Synonyms

butcher, massacre, mow (down);

annihilate, blot out, decimate, eradicate, exterminate, waste, wipe out;

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut

SLAUGHTER Defined for English Language Learners

slaughter

noun

Definition of slaughter for English Language Learners

: the act of killing animals for their meat
: the violent killing of a large number of people

slaughter

verb

Definition of slaughter for English Language Learners

: to kill (an animal) for food
: to kill (many people) in a very violent way
: to defeat (someone or something) easily or completely

SLAUGHTER Defined for Kids

slaughter

noun slaugh·ter \ ˈslȯ-tər \

Definition of slaughter for Students

1 : the act of killing

2 : the act of killing and preparing animals for food

3 : destruction of many lives especially in battle

slaughter

verb

Definition of slaughter for Students

slaughtered; slaughtering

1 : ²butcher 1

2 : ²massacre

Learn More about slaughter

See words that rhyme with slaughter Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for slaughter Spanish Central: Translation of slaughter Nglish: Translation of slaughter for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of slaughter for Arabic speakers

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slaughter

Definition of slaughter

Examples of slaughter in a Sentence

Recent Examples of slaughter from the Web

Origin and Etymology of slaughter

slaughter Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

slaughter

Definition of slaughter

slaughterer

Examples of slaughter in a Sentence

Recent Examples of slaughter from the Web

First Known Use of slaughter

slaughter Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

Phrases Related to SLAUGHTER

Related Phrases

SLAUGHTER Defined for English Language Learners

slaughter

Definition of slaughter for English Language Learners

slaughter

Definition of slaughter for English Language Learners

SLAUGHTER Defined for Kids

slaughter

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slaughter

Definition of slaughter for Students

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