slaughter

Noun

1. (uncountable) The killing of animals, generally for food.
2. (countable, uncountable) A massacre; the killing of a large number of people.
3. (countable, rare, uncountable) A mass destruction of non-living things.
4. (countable, uncountable) A rout or decisive defeat.
5. (countable, uncountable) A group of iguanas.

Verb

1. (transitive) To butcher animals, generally for food.
2. (intransitive, transitive) To massacre people in large numbers.
3. (transitive) To kill someone or something, especially in a particularly brutal manner.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈslɔːtə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: slaughter

Cognate with Dutch: slachten

Cognate with German: schlachten

Cognate with Finnish: lahdata

In summary

From Middle English slaughter, from Old Norse *slahtr, later sláttr, from Proto-Germanic *slahtrą, from Proto-Germanic *slahaną. Equivalent to slay + -ter (as in laughter). Eventually derived from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, strike, throw”). Related with Dutch slachten, German schlachten, Finnish lahdata (all “to slaughter”).

Synonyms

killing

massacre

kill

🔪🩸👤

murder

butcher

carnage

butchery

slay

assassinate

slaying

bloodshed

destruction

assassination

cut throat

cut

mass murder

homicide

cut up

cut the throat of

act of killing

flay

beat

defeat

bloodbath

destroy

whipping

trouncing

cut down

walloping

behead

strangle

slice

electrocute

slit

thrashing

saw

🪚

sacrifice

shoot

kill off

liquidate

mow down

skin

hit

execute

demolish

drubbing

exterminate

debacle

extermination

cut throat of