butcher
1 of 2noun
butch·er ˈbu̇-chər 
1
a
: a person who slaughters animals or dresses their flesh
b
: a dealer in meat
2
: one that kills ruthlessly or brutally
3
: one that bungles or botches
4
: a vendor especially on trains or in theaters
butcher
2 of 2verb
butchered; butchering ˈbu̇ch-riŋ
ˈbu̇-chə-
transitive verb
1
: to slaughter and dress for market
butcher hogs
2
: to kill in a barbarous manner
3
: botch
butchered the play
Synonyms
Noun
- blunderbuss
- blunderer
- botcher
- bumbler
- bungler
- fumbler
- screwup
Verb
- massacre
- mow (down)
- slaughter
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun the newest intern on the campaign is a butcher when it comes to writing press releases Verb They've hired someone to butcher the hogs. Many innocent people were butchered under his regime. The band has butchered my favorite song.
Recent Examples on the Web
Megha Mcswain, Chron, 8 Sep. 2022 New hard maple butcher-block countertops and brass hardware warm up the white cabinets, appliances, and subway tile backsplash. Jody Garlock, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Sep. 2022 Despite the brief time the butcher shop has been open, Zaremba says the menu has already undergone changes. cleveland, 1 Sep. 2022 The Meetz market dates back to 2009 and HHN’s butcher-heavy haunted house called Leave It to Cleaver. Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2022 Pew moved back to Philadelphia last fall, after working for two years as head butcher for Beltex Meats. Stefene Russell, The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Aug. 2022 Cincinnati butcher Josh Lillis of Eckerlin Meats maintains that making the ultimate burger is much simpler than most meat-splainers claim. Kathleen Squires, WSJ, 7 Aug. 2022 Enjoy Texas barbecue along with one of 22 craft beers at the WarPigs brewpub, tasting dishes at the trendy butcher-restaurant Fleisch, or cheap, homemade burgers at Tommi’s Burger Joint. David Nikel, Forbes, 25 July 2022 Pernat's meat sticks, from a butcher shop close to my home. Kristine M. Kierzek, Journal Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2022 Ann Abel, Forbes, 6 July 2022 There are no swimsuit competitions, but contestants may be required to butcher a sheep. Elizabeth Yuko, Rolling Stone, 12 May 2022 After Christmas, when the winter was deep and the crops were in, families would gather at a farm, as if for a barn raising, to butcher hogs, putting meat away in a smokehouse for the coming year. Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022 When these immunological assassins happen upon a cell that’s been hijacked by a virus, their first instinct is to butcher. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 14 Dec. 2021 Between 2 million and 3 million years ago, early human ancestors began to make stone tools and used them to butcher animals. NBC News, 25 Jan. 2022 Five adult volunteers had offered their pickup trucks, garage space and strength to help the children take apart the animal and eventually butcher it. New York Times, 10 Jan. 2022 Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce have something in common — broadcasters butcher their names. William J. Cole, orlandosentinel.com, 7 Dec. 2021 Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce have something in common — broadcasters butcher their names. NBC News, 7 Dec. 2021 See More
Noun
Florez has already put wheels in motion to open a butcher shop inside the restaurant. Megha Mcswain, Chron, 8 Sep. 2022 New hard maple butcher-block countertops and brass hardware warm up the white cabinets, appliances, and subway tile backsplash. Jody Garlock, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Sep. 2022 Despite the brief time the butcher shop has been open, Zaremba says the menu has already undergone changes. cleveland, 1 Sep. 2022 The Meetz market dates back to 2009 and HHN’s butcher-heavy haunted house called Leave It to Cleaver. Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2022 Pew moved back to Philadelphia last fall, after working for two years as head butcher for Beltex Meats. Stefene Russell, The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Aug. 2022 Cincinnati butcher Josh Lillis of Eckerlin Meats maintains that making the ultimate burger is much simpler than most meat-splainers claim. Kathleen Squires, WSJ, 7 Aug. 2022 Enjoy Texas barbecue along with one of 22 craft beers at the WarPigs brewpub, tasting dishes at the trendy butcher-restaurant Fleisch, or cheap, homemade burgers at Tommi’s Burger Joint. David Nikel, Forbes, 25 July 2022 Pernat's meat sticks, from a butcher shop close to my home. Kristine M. Kierzek, Journal Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2022 Verb
Austrian farmers can butcher their own meat—their cows are calm and content right up until the end—but in Germany the animals must be transported to the abattoir. Ann Abel, Forbes, 6 July 2022 There are no swimsuit competitions, but contestants may be required to butcher a sheep. Elizabeth Yuko, Rolling Stone, 12 May 2022 After Christmas, when the winter was deep and the crops were in, families would gather at a farm, as if for a barn raising, to butcher hogs, putting meat away in a smokehouse for the coming year. Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022 When these immunological assassins happen upon a cell that’s been hijacked by a virus, their first instinct is to butcher. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 14 Dec. 2021 Between 2 million and 3 million years ago, early human ancestors began to make stone tools and used them to butcher animals. NBC News, 25 Jan. 2022 Five adult volunteers had offered their pickup trucks, garage space and strength to help the children take apart the animal and eventually butcher it. New York Times, 10 Jan. 2022 Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce have something in common — broadcasters butcher their names. William J. Cole, orlandosentinel.com, 7 Dec. 2021 Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce have something in common — broadcasters butcher their names. NBC News, 7 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English bocher, from Anglo-French, from buc he-goat, probably of Celtic origin; akin to Middle Irish bocc he-goat — more at buck entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1562, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing butcher
Kids Definition
butcher 1 of 2
noun
butch·er ˈbu̇-chər
1
: a person whose business is killing animals for sale as food
2
: a dealer in meat
3
: a person who kills in large numbers or in a brutal manner
butcher
2 of 2verb
butchered; butchering
1
: to kill and prepare (an animal) for food
2
: massacre entry 2
3
: to make a mess of : botch I let my mother cut my hair and she butchered it.
butchering
verb
1
as in slaughtering
to kill on a large scale the barbarians butchered the monks in the monasteries without mercy Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- slaughtering
- massacring
- murdering
- slaying
- assassinating
- executing
- destroying
- dispatching
- smiting
- exterminating
- eradicating
- snuffing
- mowing (down)
- decimating
- demolishing
- felling
- wasting
- wiping out
- annihilating
- devastating
- blotting out
- croaking
- doing in
2
as in fumbling
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way the new piano student butchered the sonatina Synonyms & Similar Words
- fumbling
- murdering
- mangling
- dubbing
- blowing
- ruining
- botching
- bungling
- destroying
- spoiling
- booting
- flubbing
- boggling
- fluffing
- mutilating
- muffing
- bumbling
- damaging
- marring
- wrecking
- bobbling
- screwing up
- injuring
- mucking up
- fouling up
- foozling
- blundering
- lousing up
- harming
- hurting
- impairing
- muddling
- bollixing (up)
- buggering (up)
- blighting
- goofing (up)
- flawing
- blemishing
- piffling
- mismanaging
- vitiating
- messing (up)
- mishandling
- gumming (up)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- improving
- helping
- refining
- enhancing
- reforming
- rectifying
- remedying
- repairing
- ameliorating
- fixing
- doctoring
- revamping
- renovating
- reconditioning
- bettering
- meliorating
- patching