butcher

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 Verb 1.4.1 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman boucher, from Old French bouchier (“‘goat slaughterer’”), from bouc (“‘goat’”)

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈbʊtʃ.ə(ɹ)/, SAMPA: /"bUtS.@(r)/
• (US) IPA: /ˈbʊʧ.ɝ/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ʊtʃə(r)

[edit] Noun

butcher (plural butchers)

1. A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
2. A brutal or indiscriminate killer.

   Weyler was referred to as a "Butcher" by yellow journalists.

3. (Cockney rhyming slang, via butcher's hook) A look.
4. A person who sells candy, drinks, etc. in theatres, trains, circuses , etc. (old, informal).

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to butcher (third-person singular simple present butchers, present participle butchering, simple past and past participle butchered)

1. (transitive) To slaughter animals and prepare meat for market.
2. (transitive) To kill brutally.
3. (transitive) To ruin something, often to the point of defamation.

   The band at that bar really butchered "Hotel California".

[edit] Translations