slaughter
pronunciation
How to pronounce slaughter in British English:
UK [ˈslɔːtə(r)]
How to pronounce slaughter in American English:
US [ˈslɔːtər]
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- Noun:
- the killing of animals (as for food)
- a sound defeat
- the savage and excessive killing of many people
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- Verb:
- kill (animals) usually for food consumption
- kill a large number of people indiscriminately
Word Origin
- slaughter
- slaughter: [13] Slaughter was borrowed from Old Norse *slahtr, which went back to the same prehistoric Germanic base (*slakh- ‘strike’) that produced English slay. Old English appears to have had its own version of the word, *slæht, which survived into the 17th century as slaught. This forms the second syllable of onslaught [17], where it replaced the -slag in the borrowing from Middle Dutch aenslag (literally ‘onstriking’).=> onslaught, slay
- slaughter (n.)
- c. 1300, "killing of a cattle or sheep for food, killing of a person," from a Scandinavian *slahtr, akin to Old Norse slatr "a butchering, butcher meat," slatra "to slaughter," slattr "a mowing" from Proto-Germanic *slukhtis, related to Old Norse sla "to strike" (see slay (v.)) + formative suffix (as in laugh/laughter). Meaning "killing of a large number of persons in battle" is attested from mid-14c. Old English had slieht "stroke, slaughter, murder, death; animals for slaughter;" as in sliehtswyn "pig for killing."
- slaughter (v.)
- 1530s, "butcher an animal for market," from slaughter (n.). Meaning "slay wantonly, ruthlessly, or in great numbers" is from 1580s. Related: Slaughtered; slaughtering.
Example
- 1. I 'm really terrified to witness the slaughter .
- 2. They don 't see daylight until they are shipped for slaughter .
- 3. If a democratically-elected government began to slaughter a minority group ?
- 4. Refugees crossing the lebanese border came bearing tales of slaughter .
- 5. A world health organization statement said the woman appears to have been infected during the slaughter and preparation of poultry .