as in massacre
the killing of a large number of people
all civilized nations should protest this senseless slaughter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Anthony Pahnke, Boston Herald, 23 Mar. 2026
Massacres of Aboriginal people—such as that by the Whyte brothers (William, George, Pringle, James, and John) at The Hummocks near Wando Vale in the Western District, where only one member of the Konongwootong Gundidj clan (which included men, women, and children) escaped slaughter—were common.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2026
The elders will die, abandoned by their children, and their reindeer will be slaughtered or absorbed into bigger industrial-sized herds.
—Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for slaughter
Noun
And advancing the Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local (LOCAL) Foods Act would strengthen local markets by allowing for on-farm slaughter of livestock.
—Anthony Pahnke, Boston Herald, 23 Mar. 2026
Massacres of Aboriginal people—such as that by the Whyte brothers (William, George, Pringle, James, and John) at The Hummocks near Wando Vale in the Western District, where only one member of the Konongwootong Gundidj clan (which included men, women, and children) escaped slaughter—were common.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
Verb
But news of Anthropic testing its most powerful AI model yet slaughtered enterprise software stocks Friday.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2026
The elders will die, abandoned by their children, and their reindeer will be slaughtered or absorbed into bigger industrial-sized herds.
—Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for slaughter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slaughter
Noun
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Ghaemi said that this language was reminiscent of the propaganda that helped fuel and justify other historic atrocities, such as the massacres in Myanmar or Rwanda.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
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And Glocks have been the killing machine of choice in some of America’s most horrifying massacres, including Virginia Tech in 2007, which left 33 dead, including the gunman, and the shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill in California in November 2018, where a gunman killed 13 people, then himself.—
Simon Akam,
Vanity Fair,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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And in Ashley and Marsha's texts about murdering Harold, there was a reference to Ty.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
5 Apr. 2026
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Police arrested Bowen, 40, on Wednesday, charged with murdering his wife in their Coral Springs home and tampering with evidence.—
Amanda Rosa,
Miami Herald,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slaughter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slaughter. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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