butcher

noun

/ˈbʊtʃə(r)/

/ˈbʊtʃər/

Idioms

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a person whose job is cutting up and selling meat in a shop or killing animals for this purpose
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- local
- halal
- kosher
- …
See full entry
butcher’s

(plural butchers)
a shop that sells meat
- He owns the butcher's in the main street.
More Like This Shops, etc. with apostrophes
Shops, etc. with apostrophes
- baker’s
- barber’s
- butcher’s
- chemist’s
- dentist’s
- doctor’s
- fishmonger’s
- florist’s
- greengrocer’s
- grocer’s
- hairdresser’s
- ironmonger’s
- jeweller’s
- newsagent’s
- optician’s
- stationer’s
- tobacconist’s
- travel agent’s
Topics Shoppingb2, Jobsb2
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- local
- halal
- kosher
- …
See full entry
a person who kills people in a cruel and violent way

Word OriginMiddle English: from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French bochier, from boc ‘he-goat’, probably of the same ultimate origin as the verb buck.

Idioms

have/take a butcher’s

(British English, slang) to have a look at something

butcher

verb

/ˈbʊtʃə(r)/

/ˈbʊtʃər/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they butcher	/ˈbʊtʃə(r)/ /ˈbʊtʃər/
he / she / it butchers	/ˈbʊtʃəz/ /ˈbʊtʃərz/
past simple butchered	/ˈbʊtʃəd/ /ˈbʊtʃərd/
past participle butchered	/ˈbʊtʃəd/ /ˈbʊtʃərd/
-ing form butchering	/ˈbʊtʃərɪŋ/ /ˈbʊtʃərɪŋ/

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butcher somebody to kill people in a very cruel and violent way
butcher something to kill animals and cut them up for use as meatTopics Farmingc2
butcher something (especially North American English) to make something less good or successful by doing it very badly
- The script was good, but those guys butchered it.

Word OriginMiddle English: from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French bochier, from boc ‘he-goat’, probably of the same ultimate origin as the verb buck.