butchery

noun

butch·​ery ˈbu̇-chə-rē 

ˈbu̇ch-

plural butcheries

1

chiefly British : slaughterhouse

2

: the preparation of meat for sale

3

: cruel and ruthless slaughter of human beings

4

: botch

Synonyms

• bloodbath
• carnage
• death
• holocaust
• massacre
• slaughter

Examples of butchery in a Sentence

the butchery of civilians during the war

butchery on a scale that horrified the civilized world

Recent Examples on the Web

Running a sustainable butchery or meat alternative company can be tough for all sorts of reasons: costs are high and consumers are worn down by inflation, just to name a few. —Shawn Tully, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2024

Nearly 80 years ago, rats lurked in the city's docks and butcheries, bringing the potential for disease, according to an account in the New Yorker magazine. —Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2024

His conversations range from hunting and whole-animal butchery to energy fields, reincarnation and the ghost that haunts one of the guest rooms upstairs. —Ann Abel, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2024

On the grind-house end of things, Hooper is still celebrated, when he’s not being reviled, for inspiring an avalanche of hardware-store butchery and final girls. —Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

butchery

noun

butch·​ery ˈbu̇ch-(ə-)rē 

plural butcheries

: brutal murder : great slaughter