noun
slaughter
SLAW-tuh
noun
1
The killing of animals for food.
"The cattle were sent to slaughter at the end of the season."
2
The brutal killing of many people; a massacre.
"Historians still debate the scale of the slaughter."
verb
1
To kill animals for food, typically on a large scale.
"The farm slaughters its own pigs on site."
2
To kill a large number of people brutally.
"The invading army slaughtered the villagers without mercy."
How to Use Slaughter
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishKilling animals for meat, or the brutal mass killing of people.
Common pairings
mass slaughter
sent to slaughter
the slaughter of innocents
Word Forms
slaughtered past tense, slaughters plural, slaughters singular
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The cattle were sent to _____ at the end of the season.
Etymology
From Old Norse *slahtr, related to the verb slay — literally the same root that gives "laughter" its ending.