butchered

past tense of butcher

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of butchered Then, in 1863, a collection of Missouri Confederate Bushwhackers led by William Quantrill rode into Lawrence and butchered 150 men and boys. — Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026 Cut marks and scrapes made by flint knives at consistent locations on the bones indicate local humans butchered many of them for meals. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026 At the site, excavators found stone tools alongside bones of ancient elephants — and the recent paper, written by archaeologists and paleoanthropologists, suggests the remains were likely deliberately butchered by early human ancestors. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 14 Aug. 2026 The meats — some butchered on-site by Soto — sear over mesquite charcoal, with smoke wafting through the large patio and over the restaurant’s bright pink walls. — Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026 Jurors heard a harrowing voicemail left by Johnson begging one of her friends for help as Williams butchered her, stabbing her five times in the chest and four times in her back. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026 Being completely immobilized and nearly butchered by Jean could easily lead to a lifelong hatred of mutantkind. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 31 July 2026 The magazine’s anatomically graphic photos—rats butchered alive, dogs with their faces sliced open, monkeys screaming at the electrodes implanted in their abdomens—seemed like windows into hell. — Literary Hub, 10 July 2026 That November, working once again with the Humane Society, Anderson rescued three dogs bound for South Korea to be butchered for meat and another that was rescued from Hurricane Ian in Florida. — Mike Danahey, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for butchered
Verb
  • Already, in South Africa, an ostrich flock that survives bird flu would only be quarantined and rigorously tested for reinfection, not slaughtered.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Every year, live chickens are confined and slaughtered at makeshift sites on Brooklyn streets and sidewalks.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 20 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Treadwell fumbled and L’Jarius Sneed recovered the ball for what initially was ruled a game-winning recovery.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026
  • The Northwestern defense came up with another fourth-down stop to open the third quarter, but the Wildcats gave the ball back when Caleb Komolafe fumbled at the Colorado 34.
    — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Georgia State wasn’t done, as running back Qwantavius Wiggins blew past the UCF defense, racing 78 yards for a touchdown and giving the Panthers their first lead of the game at 21-17.
    — Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Smith, the shortest player in the FBS at 5-foot-5, fielded the ball at the 2 near the left sideline, faked a reverse handoff near the 10 before changing direction and blew past Cincinnati’s kick coverage team up the right sideline.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • That was the fate of Jeffrey Dahmer’s former apartment building and the Idaho house where Bryan Kohberger murdered four college students.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • In 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, were murdered in broad daylight inside their Massachusetts home, just blocks from the town’s busy center.
    — Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Photos showed his paws mangled and covered with open red sores.
    — Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Old tree roots have mangled sidewalks and created obstacles for pedestrians, especially parents with strollers and people using wheelchairs.
    — Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 13 July 2026
Verb
  • This class of insects was dubbed lepidoptera, meaning scale wings, by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1746.
    — Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Congress this week attempted to rush the measure, dubbed the Ratepayer Protection Act, in the waning days before November’s election, as data centers have become an increasingly contentious issue.
    — Justin Papp, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Before the attack, millions of books a year were printed in this space, where there’s now nothing but piles of swollen book stock, ruined after firefighters put out the blaze.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026
  • In a defense memo, Pattis characterizes Diamantis as a broken and financially ruined former politician and lawyer who at 70 might not survive a long prison sentence.
    — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 14 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The Pakistani Information Ministry rejected a claim by Afghanistan's Defense Ministry that Afghanistan had destroyed a Pakistani post near the southern Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, opposite the Pakistani city of Chaman.
    — MUNIR AHMED, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Saudi Arabia said earlier this month that its air defenses destroyed a Houthi drone headed for the holy city of Mecca, a claim the group denied.
    — Azhar Sukri, CNBC, 26 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Butchered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/butchered. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

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