slaughter

noun

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slaugh·ter | \ ˈslȯ-tər

Definition of slaughter

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

slaughter

verb

slaughtered; slaughtering; slaughters

Definition of slaughter (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to kill (animals) for food : butcher

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

b : to kill in large numbers : massacre

3 : to discredit, defeat, or demolish completely

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Examples of slaughter in a Sentence

Noun the slaughter of innocent people all civilized nations should protest this senseless slaughter Verb Our team got slaughtered yesterday. modern poultry farms slaughter a vast number of chickens every day

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The methodical and systematic slaughter of women … that's what this case is about. — CBS News, "The Hollywood Ripper: How "48 Hours" helped crack the case of convicted serial killer Michael Gargiulo," 14 Sep. 2019 All animals are sentient beings and even those raised for slaughter are entitled to be treated humanely. — BostonGlobe.com, "Letters to the editor of the Boston Globe Magazine - The Boston Globe," 14 Sep. 2019 Northern farmers often sell their animals for slaughter in the south, and the meat often is shipped back into Northern Ireland or elsewhere in Britain. — Washington Post, "These 5 countries are busy prepping for a post-Brexit world," 6 Sep. 2019 Senate Republicans need to start being honest with themselves about what is happening during these attacks and act to stop the slaughter. — The Denver Post Editorial Board, The Denver Post, "Editorial: Innocent lives are in the hands of the U.S. Senate," 5 Aug. 2019 The memoirs of former Obama aides follow a similar pattern in reckoning with the catastrophe in Syria: the aides discuss their revulsion at the slaughter and their desire to use American power to ameliorate it. — Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, "The Moral Logic of Humanitarian Intervention," 9 Sep. 2019 The annual event leads to the slaughter and consumption of thousands of dogs and cats each year. — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, "Everything You Need to Know about the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, and How You Can Help End It," 21 June 2019 In the aftermath of this slaughter, the number of suicide bombings against Jewish citizens increased. — Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Incitement': Film Review | TIFF 2019," 8 Sep. 2019 For critics of the initiative, the invocation of R2P to justify Anglo-French-US military action in Libya proved them right—even though a civilian slaughter in Benghazi had almost certainly been imminent. — Janine Di Giovanni, The New York Review of Books, "Sierra Leone, 2000: A Case History in Successful Interventionism," 7 June 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb There are fingers itching to have a reason to cage or even slaughter you. — Imani Perry, Time, "'I Will Not Allow That to Be Your Life.' A Mother's Letter to Her Black Sons on Growing Up in America," 17 Sep. 2019 Investigators haven’t yet identified the motive of a gunman who slaughtered nine people in Dayton, Ohio, who was reported to retweet posts supporting antifa on Twitter. — Marina Starleaf Riker, ExpressNews.com, "Far-right groups gain mainstream momentum in crusade against anti-fascist movement," 13 Sep. 2019 The Persians are unable to dislodge the Spartans, who slaughter them like cattle despite the enormous disparity in numbers. — Myke Cole, The New Republic, "The Sparta Fetish Is a Cultural Cancer," 1 Aug. 2019 This is a happier end than that of the last sheep to graze on the Heath, in the nineteen-fifties: they were imminently headed to slaughter at Smithfield, the meat market in central London. — Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, "The Brexit Warnings to Be Found in Sheep Grazing in a London Park," 3 Sep. 2019 The 26 fishermen permitted to take part in the hunt are also allowed to slaughter 3 different species of whale. — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, "Controversial Dolphin Hunt, Likely to Leave 1,400 Dolphins Captured or Killed, Begins in Japan," 3 Sep. 2019 Under a 2001 agreement between federal and state officials, thousands of bison attempting to migrate to winter feeding grounds outside Yellowstone have been captured and sent to slaughter. — Felicia Fonseca, BostonGlobe.com, "Grand Canyon to make second run at corralling bison herd," 2 Sep. 2019 In a giant walled courtyard, Khaleesi tricked the Slave Masters of Astapor, freeing the Unsullied army to slaughter and burn them to a crisp with a single Dracarus. — Nicolas Stecher, Billboard, "MOGA Festival Returning to 'Game of Thrones' Red City, Drops Lineup With Kenny Dope, Blondish & More," 7 Aug. 2019 Centuries before Wade and his peers transformed the NBA tunnel, Roman gladiators paraded around the Colosseum pit flaunting purple-and-gold cloaks—or, as with second-century emperor Commodus, a lion’s pelt—before trying to slaughter one another. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "How Athletes Are Turning Arena Entrances into Fashion Shows," 22 July 2019

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.