3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Butcher  \Butch"er\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Butchered};  p.  pr  & 
  vb  n.  {Butchering}.] 
  1.  To  kill  or  slaughter  (animals)  for  food,  or  for  market; 
  as  to  butcher  hogs. 
 
  2.  To  murder,  or  kill,  especially  in  an  unusually  bloody  or 
  barbarous  manner.  --Macaulay. 
 
  [Ithocles]  was  murdered,  rather  butchered.  --Ford. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Butcher  \Butch"er\,  n.  [OE.  bochere,  bochier  OF  bochier  F. 
  boucher,  orig.,  slaughterer  of  buck  goats,  fr  OF  boc,  F. 
  bouc,  a  buck  goat;  of  German  or  Celtic  origin.  See  {Buck}  the 
  animal.] 
  1.  One  who  slaughters  animals,  or  dresses  their  flesh  for 
  market;  one  whose  occupation  it  is  to  kill  animals  for 
  food. 
 
  2.  A  slaughterer;  one  who  kills  in  large  numbers,  or  with 
  unusual  cruelty;  one  who  causes  needless  loss  of  life,  as 
  in  battle.  ``Butcher  of  an  innocent  child.''  --Shak. 
 
  {Butcher  bird}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  species  of  shrike  of  the  genus 
  {Lanius}. 
 
  Note:  The  {Lanius  excubitor}  is  the  common  butcher  bird  of 
  Europe.  In  England,  the  bearded  tit  is  sometimes  called 
  the  {lesser  butcher  bird}.  The  American  species  are 
  {L.borealis},  or  {northern  butcher  bird},  and  {L. 
  Ludovicianus}  or  {loggerhead  shrike}.  The  name  butcher 
  bird  is  derived  from  its  habit  of  suspending  its  prey 
  impaled  upon  thorns,  after  killing  it 
 
  {Butcher's  meat},  such  flesh  of  animals  slaughtered  for  food 
  as  is  sold  for  that  purpose  by  butchers,  as  beef,  mutton, 
  lamb,  and  pork. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  butcher 
  n  1:  a  retailer  of  meat  [syn:  {meatman}] 
  2:  a  brutal  indiscriminate  murderer 
  3:  a  person  who  slaughters  or  dresses  meat  for  market  [syn:  {slaughterer}] 
  4:  someone  who  makes  mistakes  because  of  incompetence  [syn:  {bungler}, 
  {blunderer},  {fumbler},  {bumbler},  {sad  sack},  {botcher}, 
  {fuckup}] 
  v  :  kill;  used  of  animals,  but  also  used  for  people  to  indicate 
  brutality  [syn:  {slaughter}] 

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