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
butchered; butchering
ˈbu̇ch-riŋ 
ˈbu̇-chə-
1
: to slaughter and dress for market
butcher hogs
2
: to kill in a barbarous manner
3
: botch
butchered the play
Synonyms
Examples of butcher in a Sentence
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
Samanth Subramanian Vikas Adam Tanya Pérez Zachary Mouton, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
In Las Vegas, the restaurant menu features Andiamo selections such as handmade pastas, while also offering top meat selections from the nation’s top butchers, including prime steaks.
—Detroit Free Press, 10 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for butcher 
Noun
You can be arrested for offering the namaz in public, or for being a Muslim man marrying a Hindu woman, or for running your butcher shop during Hindu festivals.
—Samanth Subramanian Vikas Adam Tanya Pérez Zachary Mouton, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
In Las Vegas, the restaurant menu features Andiamo selections such as handmade pastas, while also offering top meat selections from the nation’s top butchers, including prime steaks.
—Detroit Free Press, 10 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for butcher
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'butcher.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Butcher.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/butcher. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
butcher
1 of 2 noun
butch·er
ˈbu̇ch-ər
1
a
: one whose business is killing animals for sale as food
b
: a dealer in meat
2
: a person who kills in large numbers or in a brutal manner
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