MEANING
1. To slaughter an animal or cut up its carcass for meat.
2. To carry out a task so badly that the result is spoiled.
3. To kill people with brutal disregard for their lives.
Use it for
A killer treating people as meat; industrialized killing; dehumanizing testimonyLet the trade association make cruelty concrete without adding moral commentary.
Words that belong together
- butcher livestock
- brutally butcher
- butchered victims
On the page
He butchered the sheep before dawn.
The survivors said the raiders had butchered everyone in the ward.
Someone had butchered the remains with the efficiency of a practiced worker.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- butcher / butchers
- Past tense
- butchered
- Past participle
- butchered
- Present participle
- butchering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- butcher / butchers
- Present continuous
- am/is/are butchering
- Present perfect
- have/has butchered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been butchering
- Past
- butchered
- Past continuous
- was/were butchering
- Past perfect
- had butchered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been butchering
- Future
- will butcher / butchers
- Future continuous
- will be butchering
- Future perfect
- will have butchered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been butchering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Violent human use condemns the killing; the ordinary trade sense is neutral. Also figuratively means doing a task disastrously badly. Verb [base, third-person present, past, past participle, -ing]: butcher, butchers, butchered, butchered, butchering.
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