noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc.

   "Once the cows reach maturity, they're sent to the abattoir."

2. 2
   a building where animals are butchered wordnet
3. 3
   A place or event likened to a slaughterhouse, because of great carnage or bloodshed.

   "The army's raid on the enemy turned into a major abattoir."

Synonyms

All synonyms

aceldamabloodbathbutcheryconcentration campgas chambershambles

Example

More examples

"Local protestors showed gruesome abattoir footage on widescreen TVs."

Etymology

Borrowed from French abattoir, from abattre (“to slaughter”) (cognate to abate) + -oir (“-ory”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.