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
ˈbu̇-chə-riŋ 
ˈbu̇ch-
1
: to slaughter and dress for market
butcher hogs
2
: to kill in a barbarous manner
3
: botch
butchered the play
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
Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 23 May 2025
Former butcher Philippe Schneider, 69, allegedly confessed to killing Georges Meichler, 60, who lived as a recluse in the village of Brasc, France in February 2023, per The Telegraph.
—Becca Longmire, People.com, 20 May 2025
Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 22 May 2025
The way they were butchered also implies community organization.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for butcher
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Noun
The restaurant was founded in 1999 after Billy D’Elia and his family relocated to South Carolina from Brooklyn and discovered a limited number of quality butcher shops in the area.
—Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 23 May 2025
Former butcher Philippe Schneider, 69, allegedly confessed to killing Georges Meichler, 60, who lived as a recluse in the village of Brasc, France in February 2023, per The Telegraph.
—Becca Longmire, People.com, 20 May 2025
Verb
Tech behemoths are jury-rigging AI features into their products to avoid being disrupted—but these rollouts, and Apple’s in particular, have been disastrous, giving dangerous health advice, butchering news summaries, and generally crowding and slowing user experiences.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 22 May 2025
The way they were butchered also implies community organization.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for butcher
Cite this Entry
“Butcher.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/butcher. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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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