noun
butcher
BUUT-shuh
noun
1
A person whose trade is preparing and selling meat.
"I bought the lamb chops from the butcher on the corner."
2
Someone who kills brutally or without mercy.
"History remembers the dictator as a butcher."
verb
1
To slaughter animals and cut up the meat for sale.
"The farmer butchers his own pigs every autumn."
2
To ruin or botch something badly.
"The editing team butchered the film, cutting half the best scenes."
How to Use Butcher
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSomeone who cuts and sells meat for a living, or (figuratively) to ruin something badly or kill without mercy.
Common pairings
the local butcher
butcher a song
butcher shop
Word Forms
butchered past tense, butchers plural, butchers singular
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Etymology
From Old French bouchier, "goat slaughterer," from bouc ("goat"), tracing back to a Germanic word for a male goat — the same root as the English word "buck."