slaughter

slaughter [slôt′ər]

n.

[ME slahter < ON slātr, lit., slain flesh, contr. < slattr, akin to OE sleaht, slaughter, death: for IE base see SLAY]

1. the killing of an animal or animals for food; butchering

2. the killing of a human being, esp. in a brutal manner

3. the killing of people in large numbers, as in battle

4. Informal a complete defeat or victory

vt.

1. to kill (an animal or animals) for food; butcher

2. to kill (people), esp. brutally or in large numbers

3. Informal to conquer or defeat completely

slaughterer

n.

SYN.- SLAUGHTER, as applied to people, suggests extensive and brutal killing, as in battle or by deliberate acts of wanton cruelty; MASSACRE implies the indiscriminate and wholesale slaughter of those who are defenseless or helpless to resist; BUTCHERY adds implications of extreme cruelty and of such coldblooded heartlessness as one might display in the slaughtering of animals; CARNAGE stresses the result of bloody slaughter and suggests the accumulation of the bodies of the slain; POGROM refers to an organized, often officially inspired, massacre of a minority group, specifically of the Jews in czarist Russia