| 释义 |
▪ I. slaughter, n.|ˈslɔːtə(r)|
Forms: α. 4 slahter, -tir, 4–5 slaȝter (4 -tter), slaghter (5 -tre, -tur); 4 slauh-, slauȝter, 5– slaughter (5 slawghtir, 6 -ter); 4 sclawtur, sclauter, 6 sklaut(t)er; 5 slawter, -tyr, slauther, 6 slauter. β. Sc. 5–6 slachtir (5 -tyr, -ter), slawchtir (5 -tyr, 6 -ter), slauchtir (5 -tyr), 5–7 slauchter (6 -tre).
[a. early ON. *slahtr neut. (ON. and Icel. slátr butcher-meat, Norw. dial. slaater cattle for killing), f. the stem *slah-: see slay v.1]
1. a. The killing of cattle, sheep, or other animals for food. (See also 4.)
a1300E.E. Psalter xliii. 24 Als schepe of slaghter wend er we. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (1495) 741 Fysshe fleeth..the place of wasshyng and of slaughter of other fysshe. c1440Promp. Parv. 458/2 Slawtyr, of beestys, mactacio. 1487Act 4 Hen. VII, c. 3 The Slaughter of Beasts..had and done in the Butchery. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 794 From his Herd he culls, For Slaughter, four the fairest of his Bulls. a1704T. Brown Dial. Dead Wks. 1711 IV. 77 A Son of Slaughter at White-Chapel converted to the observation of Fish-days. 1868Standard 15 Dec. 6 The laws..that have traditionally been handed down with respect to the slaughter of cattle.
b. The skins of killed beasts. rare—1.
1789Brand Hist. Newcastle II. 317 The ordinary of the tanners..enjoined..That each brother should have but one butcher to buy slaughter of.
2. The killing or slaying of a person; murder, homicide, esp. of a brutal kind.
αa1300Cursor M. 6752 If þe son be risen þan, It sal be slaghter telld o man. c1325Metr. Hom. 38, I wille you telle Hou it of his slahter felle. c1422Hoccleve Jereslaus's Wife 882 No wight but shee Mighte of this slaghtre and murdre gilty be. c1450Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 4 Dauid after the slaghter of Golie. 1587Mirr. Mag., Porrex vii, I procur'd hir wrath by slaughter of hir sonne. 1592Arden of Feversham ii. ii, The villaine hath sworne the slaughter of his maister. 1652J. Burroughes Exp. Hosea vii. 142 It is a fruit, I say, of the slaughter of Christ and of his blood. a1722Sir J. Lauder Decis. (1759) I. 13 Our law concludes all it finds with cold steel..guilty of the slaughter. 1820Scott Monast. xxvii, He felt..indignant at the supposed slaughter of young Glendinning. 1825― Betrothed xxxi, So singular were the tidings of the Constable's slaughter.
βc1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 457 And þai..throw browthir slawchtir cun þe file. c1470Henry Wallace vi. 215 The saklace slauchter off hir. 1570Buchanan Admonit. Wks. (S.T.S.) 23 Sum of þame ar counsalouris of þe kingis slauchter. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 288 Throw counsell of his wyf he inuented the kings slauchtre.
3. a. The killing of large numbers of persons in war, battle, etc.; massacre, carnage.
α1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 91 Sen þis greuance hard, þe slauhter & þe drede,..sone afterward þe kyng to Ȝork ȝede. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 307 Þat ȝere was þe grete slauȝter of Saxons. 1420–22Lydg. Thebes iii. (MS. Laud 557), He made of hem..So grete slaughter and occisioun, That as þe deth fro his swerd þey fled. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xxiv. 92 The grete damage and grete slawghtir that he had don of his folke. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxliii. 637 There was on both partyes such slauter that it was marueyle to behold it. 1597J. King On Jonas (1618) 199 What slaughter and hauocke it caused, what profusion of blood between the nobles and the commons. 1665Dryden Ind. Emp. v. ii, Slaughter grows murder when it goes too far, And makes a Massacre what was a War. 1713Addison Cato i. i, The field Strow'd with Rome's citizens, and drench'd in slaughter. 1750Gray Elegy 67 To wade through slaughter to a throne. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies 122 The chief..cut his way through the enemy with great slaughter. 1849Grote Greece ii. lxix. (1862) VI. 224 These Greeks repelled the Persian assailants with considerable slaughter.
fig.1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 37 b, In oppression & slaughter of all true soules that resisteth hym. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. i. iii, They make a slaughter of Scriptures.
transf.1748Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 160 The slaughter [by scurvy] would have been..terrible. 1971Rand Daily Mail 27 Mar. 5/3 The slaughter on our roads and damage to property are apparently accepted with equanimity.
β1375Barbour Bruce xix. 567 A felloun slauchtir maid thai thair. c1470Henry Wallace v. 930 On Sotheron men full gret slauchter thai maid. 1513Douglas æneid v. xiii. 98 Sic multitude Of slauchter he maid. 1596Dalrymple. tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 193 This, in the secunde ȝeir of his regne, maid gret slachter amang the Pechtes.
b. Personified.
1595Shakes. John iii. i. 237 They were besmear'd and ouer⁓staind With slaughters pencill. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 496 Grim Slaughter strides along, Glutting her greedy Jaws. 1840Whittier ‘Maiden, with the fair brown tresses’ 129 When the red right-hand of slaughter Moulders with the steel it swung.
c. Persons slain in battle, etc. rare.
1757W. Wilkie Epigoniad v. 122 Some, 'midst the heaps of slaughter, sought their dead. 1764Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772) I. 210 His body being found amidst a heap of slaughter.
4. In the phrases to or for the slaughter.
a1400N. T. (Paues) Acts viii. 32 As a schepe vnto þo slawghter was he ledde. 1535Coverdale Ezek. ix. 2 Euery man [had] a weapen in his honde to the slaughter. 1611Bible Ps. xliv. 22 Wee are counted as sheepe for the slaughter. 1650Trapp Comm. Num. xxxv. 21 Wilful murtherers..should..be taken from the altar to the slaughter. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 238 Two miserable Wretches..were now brought out for the Slaughter. 1784Cowper Task vi. 421 Witness the patient ox,..Driv'n to the slaughter. 1911Beerbohm Zuleika Dobson viii. 137, I..am going to die for the love I bear this woman. And let no man think I go unwilling. I am no lamb led to the slaughter. 1926W. R. Inge Lay Thoughts of Dean ii. ii. 98 The Russians..were driven like sheep to the slaughter, in some cases unarmed, and always insufficiently protected by artillery. 1955J. Masters Coromandel! iii. 203 They are on their way now... They will be goats for the slaughter. 1982Daily Tel. 10 Feb. 16/5 The rank-and-file membership of the union are meekly following their so-called leaders like lambs to the slaughter.
5. A particular instance or occurrence of slaying or massacre.
1483Cath. Angl. 342/2 A Slaghter, cedes. 1535Coverdale Numb. xxxv. 6 Ye shall geue them sixe fre cities, that he which committeth a slaughter, maie flye thither. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 33 The slaughters made by the gunne. 1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 131 There was a horrible slaughter, for..those that fled could not escape their pursuers. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 229 We made a..terrible slaughter. 1836Thirlwall Greece III. xxii. 215 Of those who escaped this slaughter most met with death in some other form. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi. IV. 575 They next resolved..that the slaughter was a murder.
†6. Mil. (See quots.) Obs. rare.
1581Styward Mart. Discipl. i. 45 These..be placed in the heart of the battaile, vsuallie called the slaughter of the field, or execution of the same, who commonlie doe not fight but in verie great extremitie. 1598Barret Theor. Wars iii. ii. 47 Halberdes or billes..we call..the gard of the ensignes, and slaughter of the field.
†7. A cut or slash; a wound. Obs. rare.
1592Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 274, I pray you how many slaughters do you make in a poore Calues skin? 1606G. W[oodcock] Hist. Ivstine ii. 12 This man, after innumerable slaughters receiued in the Battayle, as also hauing pursued the Enemy [etc.].
8. fig.
a. An excessive cutting down of trees.
1657W. Coles Adam in Eden cxv. 167 There hath been of late dayes, Such a Slaughter of Oaks, and other Trees, all over this Land.
b. A sweeping reduction in the price of goods in order to effect a clearance.
1891in Cent. Dict.
9. attrib. and Comb.
a. Attrib., in sense of ‘intended or set aside to be killed for food’, as slaughter cattle, slaughter cow, slaughter lamb, slaughter ox, slaughter sheep, slaughter stock.
1535Coverdale Zech. xi. 7, I myself fedde y⊇ slaughter shepe. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 496 Such as are killed they call the skins of slaughter-lambs. 1612Extr. Burgh Rec. Stirling I. 132 Ilk slauchter kow passing langis the brig,..tua pennies. 1645Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 43 It should be but the logic of a beast, if the slaughter ox should say [etc.]. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vii. 301 Slaughter oxen or cows, and milch cows, are not to be had for money. 1899C. J. C. Hyne Further Adventures of Captain Kettle v. 123 The foreign crew of the lifeboat, limp with scare, would have been mere slaughter-pigs on board, even if they could have been lured there. 1958Johannesburg Sunday Times 14 Dec. 7/1 The highest price for slaughter stock at the Ladysmith Farmers' Association stock sale last week was {pstlg}52 10s. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. b10/3 Slaughter cattle of mixed quality. 1977West Briton 25 Aug. 6/1 (Advt.), We have received Ministry approval under this Order for the sale of slaughter sheep and store and breeding sheep on the same day. 1978Morecambe Guardian 14 Mar. 22/1 (Advt.), Usual Sale of Livestock including..Fat Cattle and Slaughter Cows.
b. Attrib., with words denoting a place used for slaughtering, as slaughter-pen, slaughter-pit, slaughter-place, slaughter-room, slaughter-shop, slaughter-yard.
1688Bunyan Jerusalem Sinner Saved (1886) 13 Jerusalem was now become the shambles, the very slaughter-shop for saints. 1796Deb. Congress U.S. 28 Dec. (1849) 1720 Georgia was a slaughter-pen during the war. 1819Scott Leg. Montrose vi, Ere we reach yon fatal slaughter-place. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 8/2 Slaughter-rooms, built of stone. 1856W. G. Simms Charlemont ii. 27 These lads..raise hogs for the slaughter-pen. 1878Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 151 For the first time in the history of this agency Indians have been induced..to perform the labor of the slaughter-pen. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 218 All that's a turn too good for making slaughter-yard bacon, does for the Chinamen. 1897Daily News 24 Feb. 5/2 The troops who have just entered the city found many of these slaughter pits. 1928Blunden Undertones of War iv. 37 The casualties caused by the mine were sixty or more. Cuinchy..was a slaughter-yard. 1968T. Kinsella Nightwalker 28 Pigs in a slaughteryard that turn and savage each other.
c. Objective, as slaughter-breathing, slaughter-dealing, slaughter-threatening adjs.
1777Potter æschylus, Supplicants 131 Pursuit's alarms, And slaughter-threat'ning arms. 1814Sporting Mag. XLIII. 259 The slaughter-breathing lad in the blue coat. 1870Bryant Iliad II. xviii. 214 His slaughter-dealing hands.
10. Misc. and special combs., as slaughter-feast, slaughter-market, slaughter-stack, slaughter-weapon, slaughter-work; slaughter-master, = slaughterer 3; slaughter price (see quot. and cf. 8 b); slaughter shop, = slaughter-house 4 b; slaughter-skin (see quot.) ? Obs.; † slaughter-slave, a vile executioner; † slaughter sword (see slaugh-sword); slaughter-year (see quot.).
1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. i. Tropheis 201 This savage Beast, Which in his Fold would make a *Slaughter-feast.
1847W. C. L. Martin The Ox 59/1 The cottier or small farmer, who could not pretend to rear beasts for the *slaughter market.
1841Greener Sci. Gunnery 181 The *slaughter-master..is a cormorant, who swallows the food of the weak.
1893Daily News 27 Jan. 7/4 The bank premises had been written down to what was called in the north ‘*slaughter prices’—that was to say, not what they would fetch in the market, but as mere bricks and mortar.
1841Greener Sci. Gunnery 180 Tradesmen..whose establishment bears the euphonious titles of the ‘*slaughter shop’ and ‘blood house’.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., *Slaughter-skins, a term used by our curriers..for the skins of oxen, or other beasts, when fresh, and covered with the hair.
1555in Foxe A. & M. (1684) III. 512/1 The common Cut-throat and general *Slaughter⁓slave to all the Bishops of England.
1593Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 72 The clowde-climing *slaughter⁓stack of thy dead carkases.
1569Irish Act 11 Eliz. Stat. iii. c. 1 Preamble, The Scotts..with their *slaughter swords hewed him to pieces.
1611Bible Ezek. ix. 2 Euery man a *slaughter weapon in his hand. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. x, The hand-waled murderers, whose hands are hard as horn wi' haudin the slaughter-weapons.
1598Barret Theor. Wars i. i. 4 Our nation hath performed round *slaughter⁓worke therewith.
1728P. Walker Life Peden Pref. (1827) 32 The two bloody *Slaughter-years.., 1684, 1685, wherein 82 of the Lord's suffering People were..cruelly murdered.
▸ slang (chiefly Sport). A comprehensive or crushing defeat. Also as a mass noun. Cf. massacre n. 1d.
1890Athens (Ohio) Messenger 17 July 1/1 We did not come out of the last contest very well... It was a slaughter, not only for the head of the ticket, but all along the line. 1938Boxing 27 Apr. 10/1 The ‘slaughter’ of Steve Dudas..by Maxie Schmeling. 1991R. Keene Battle of Titans iv. 26/2 The rest is total slaughter. 2004Daily Tel. (Nexis) 30 Nov. 8 Their main hope was rain, for the fifth-day forecast was dodgy, otherwise Australia were on course to complete the slaughter early today.
▪ II. slaughter, v.|ˈslɔːtə(r)|
[f. prec. Cf. ON. and Icel. slátra, Norw. dial. slaatra, in sense 1.]
1. trans. To kill (cattle, sheep, or other animals), spec. for food.
1535Coverdale Isaiah xxii. 13 But they..slaughter oxen, they kyll shepe. 1727Bailey s.v. Diipolia, A number of Oxen.., of which if any eat of the Cakes he was slaughtered. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 165 During the winter, the rein-deer are slaughtered as sheep with us. 1833Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 46 §112 It shall not be lawful for any flesher..to slaughter cattle..elsewhere than in the shambles. 1856Kane Arctic Expl. I. xxvii. 362 The fire was lit up, and one of our birds slaughtered forthwith. 1890L. D'Oyle Notches Introd. p. viii, English and Eastern hunters, who came out and slaughtered game by thousands.
absol.1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 167 He should learn to slaughter gently, dress the carcass neatly [etc.].
2. a. To kill, slay, murder (a person), esp. in a bloody or brutal manner.
1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 21 Wheare lyes strong Hector slaughtred by manful Achilles. 1592Soliman & Pers. v. iv, In slaughtering him thy vertues are defamed. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 357 The Prince him⁓selfe hath hardly escaped from being taken or slaughtered. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Art Poet. 268 Let not Medea..Slaughter her mangled Infants on the Stage. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 427 She slaughtered our child on the spot. 1865Lecky Ration. (1870) II. 154 They said it was not lawful for a single unauthorised individual to condemn and slaughter the consecrated ruler of the nation.
fig.1632Lithgow Trav. ix. 389 The circumstances..were very plausible, if time did not slaughter my goodwill. 1845Browning Time's Revenges 5 He slaughters you with savage looks Because you don't admire my books.
b. To destroy by excessive felling.
1896Vermont Agric. Rep. XV. 85 Our lumber forests are being slaughtered. 1903S. E. White Blazed Trail Stories 27 Fitzpatrick would not have the pine ‘slaughtered’.
c. To defeat or demolish completely. colloq.
1903N.Y. Even. Post 5 Oct. 3 McLaughlin's lieutenants are openly declaring that they will ‘slaughter’ the McClellan-Grout-Fornes ticket. 1929C. E. Merriam Chicago 280 He was hopelessly beaten..in the primaries of 1907; and again slaughtered..in the primaries of 1915.
3. To kill or slay (persons) in large numbers; to massacre.
1589Warner Alb. Eng. Prose Addit. (1602) 341 Troy is sacked, and her people for the most part slaughtered. 1671Milton P.R. iii. 75 What do these Worthies, But rob.., slaughter, and enslave Peaceable Nations. 1692Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. 69 To know simply how to slaughter Men..is to excel in a very fatal Science. 1792A. Young Trav. France 405 Frederic, who attained the title of Great, on account of his superior skill in the arts of slaughtering men. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xxxvi, He shall..slaughter the infidels, even heaps upon heaps. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. iii. 138 The Latins were slaughtered in their own homes and in the streets.
fig.1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 93 One good deed, dying tonguelesse, Slaughters a thousand wayting vpon that. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy x, Fanny went on slaughtering the S's as fast as Furlong ruined R's.
absol.1718Pope Iliad xi. 199 Still slaughtering on, the king of men proceeds.
†4. To gash or slash (a hide). Obs. rare.
1603–4Act 1 Jas. I, c. 22 §1 No Butcher..shall gash, slaughter, or cut any Hide..in flayinge thereof.
5. fig. To sell at low prices or at a sacrifice.
1896Daily News 9 June 9/6 In that case,..we should have to slaughter our stock and lose our money. |