butcher

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A person who cuts and sells meat.

   The butcher recommended a nice cut of beef for the roast.

2. 2
   verb

   To kill an animal and prepare it for food.

   They butchered the pig for the winter.

3. 3
   noun

   A cruel person who kills many people violently.

   The dictator was remembered as a butcher of his own people.

4. 4
   verb

   To ruin or spoil something by doing it very badly.

   The singer completely butchered the national anthem.

Common collocations

• butcher shop Noun + noun

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.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images