What does "butcher" mean?
A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
Butcher
/ˈbʊt͡ʃ.ɚ/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
- Grammar: butcher is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: slaughterer, amputate, annihilate, annihilator.
- Useful contrasts: fix, humanitarian, improve.
- Usage evidence: That ugly butcher resembles that fictional monster.
How to use "butcher"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "butcher" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "butcher" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "butcher" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "butcher" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "butcher" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "slaughterer" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "butcher", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
"He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days..."
- 2 someone who makes mistakes because of incompetence wordnet
- 3 A brutal or indiscriminate killer. figuratively
"Butcher of an innocent child."
- 4 a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market wordnet
- 5 A look. Cockney, slang
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 a brutal indiscriminate murderer wordnet
- 7 A person who sells candy, drinks, etc. in theatres, trains, circuses, etc. informal, obsolete
- 8 a retailer of meat wordnet
- 9 A king playing card. archaic, colloquial
Verb
- 1 To slaughter (animals) and prepare (meat) for market. transitive
- 2 kill (animals) usually for food consumption wordnet
- 3 To work as a butcher. intransitive
"He tells me he now earns three times as much as he did butchering."
- 4 To kill brutally. transitive
- 5 To ruin (something), often to the point of defamation. transitive
"The band at that bar really butchered "Hotel California"."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To mess up hopelessly; to botch; to distort beyond recognition. transitive
"I am bad at pronouncing names, so my apologies if I butcher any of your names."
Adjective
- 1 comparative form of butch: more butch comparative, form-of
"Weaver and Shaw dance together and almost immediately another butch, an even butcher butch (Leslie Feinberg), cuts in to dance with Shaw (though Shaw would kill me if she heard me call someone a butcher butch)."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname originating as an occupation for a butcher.
Antonyms
Example
"That ugly butcher resembles that fictional monster."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "butcher"?
Common synonyms include: slaughterer, amputate, annihilate, annihilator, apache, assassin.
How do you use "butcher" in a sentence?
That ugly butcher resembles that fictional monster.
How do you pronounce "butcher"?
Pronounced /ˈbʊt͡ʃ.ɚ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English bocher, boucher, from Old French bouchier (“goat slaughterer”), from Old French bouc (“goat”), from Medieval Latin buccus (“he-goat”), from Frankish *bukk, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz (“male goat, male deer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuǵ- (“buck, ram”). See also English buck.
Etymology 2
From butch + -er.