Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Butcher
Butch′er
(bụch′ẽr)
, Noun.
[OE.
bochere
, bochier
, OF. bochier
, F. boucher
, orig., slaughterer of buck goats, fr. OF. boc
, F. bouc
, a buck goat; of German or Celtic origin. See Buck
the animal.] 1.
One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for food.
2.
A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in battle.
“Butcher of an innocent child.” Shak.
Butcher’s meat
, such flesh of animals slaughtered for food as is sold for that purpose by butchers, as beef, mutton, lamb, and pork.
Butch′er
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Butchered
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Butchering
.] 1.
To kill or slaughter (animals) for food, or for market;
as, to
. butcher
hogs2.
To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner.
Macaulay.
[Ithocles] was murdered, rather
butchered
. Ford.
☞ The
Lanius excubitor
is the common butcher bird of Europe. In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher bird
. The American species are Lanius borealis
, or northern butcher bird
, and Lanius Ludovicianus
or loggerhead shrike
. The name butcher bird
is derived from its habit of suspending its prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it. Webster 1828 Edition
Butcher
BUTCH'ER
, n.1.
One who slaughters animals for market; or one whose occupation is to kill animals for the table. The word may and often does include the person who cuts up and sells meat.2.
One who kills men, or commands troops to kill them; one who sheds, or causes to be shed human blood in abundance; applied to princes and conquerors who delight in war, or are remarkable for destroying human life.BUTCH'ER
,Verb.
T.
1.
To murder; but emphatically applied to murder committed with unusual cruelty, or circumstances of uncommon barbarity.