as in slaughter
the killing of a large number of people
butchery on a scale that horrified the civilized world
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Recent Examples of butchery
Neanderthals who lived in present-day Israel may have passed down local butchery techniques, and experiments indicated that late Pleistocene Neanderthals’ stable nitrogen-isotope ratios indicate not hypercarnivory but a diet rich in maggots.
—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
The event will be hosted by Caitlin and Tom Moriarty at Moriarty Meats, who will be providing regional specialty sandwiches—boeuf on weck—to fuel us through an evening of live butchery demonstration, an author Q&A, and book signing.
—Chloe Sorvino, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Of the remains, 222 had color changes that are associated with cremation, while 69 of those bones had signs of butchery likely performed after death.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 7 Aug. 2025
Yet, instead of protesting in the streets condemning Hamas’ sadistic butchery and demanding the terror group release its hostages and leave the Gaza Strip so that the Palestinian people may crawl out from beneath its rancid thumb, the American left focuses its ire on Israel instead.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for butchery
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
The event will be hosted by Caitlin and Tom Moriarty at Moriarty Meats, who will be providing regional specialty sandwiches—boeuf on weck—to fuel us through an evening of live butchery demonstration, an author Q&A, and book signing.
—Chloe Sorvino, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Of the remains, 222 had color changes that are associated with cremation, while 69 of those bones had signs of butchery likely performed after death.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 7 Aug. 2025
Yet, instead of protesting in the streets condemning Hamas’ sadistic butchery and demanding the terror group release its hostages and leave the Gaza Strip so that the Palestinian people may crawl out from beneath its rancid thumb, the American left focuses its ire on Israel instead.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for butchery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for butchery
Noun
-
All the noisy cheer-leading from afar while slaughter reigns on the ground and nothing is done to stop it,,, seems a lot more like irresponsible armchairing than the op-ed.—
Melik Kaylan,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Authorities invoked the phrase in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations and in 2024 during university campus protests against Israel’s slaughter in Gaza.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the 2018 school massacre in Parkland, Fla.—
Valerie Gonzalez,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018.—
Valerie Gonzalez,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Butchery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/butchery. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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