1
: the act of killing
specifically
: the butchering of livestock for market
2
: killing of great numbers of human beings (as in battle or a massacre) : carnage
slaughtered; slaughtering; slaughters
1
: to kill (animals) for food : butcher
3
: to discredit, defeat, or demolish completely
Synonyms
Examples of slaughter in a Sentence
Noun
the slaughter of innocent people
all civilized nations should protest this senseless slaughter
Verb
Our team got slaughtered yesterday.
modern poultry farms slaughter a vast number of chickens every day
Recent Examples on the Web
Hannah Cutting-Jones, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024
The Lakota and their allies won several military victories against the Army, most notably at the Little Bighorn, but as the years passed there was a sense of inevitability, culminating with the slaughter at Wounded Knee, which extinguished the last embers of armed Lakota resistance.
—Tim Madigan, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2024
It’s been one year since Hamas attacked Israel, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.
—Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 7 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for slaughter 
Noun
Bison populations were already in steep decline by the mid-1800s, but after the Civil War, as industrialization transformed transportation, communication and mass production, the U.S. Army actively encouraged the wholesale slaughter of bison herds.
—Hannah Cutting-Jones, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024
The Lakota and their allies won several military victories against the Army, most notably at the Little Bighorn, but as the years passed there was a sense of inevitability, culminating with the slaughter at Wounded Knee, which extinguished the last embers of armed Lakota resistance.
—Tim Madigan, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
Verb
The Minnesota company provided farmers with chicks and feed to raise until the birds were ready to be slaughtered and prepared for sale at the northeastern Iowa processing center.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2024
It’s been one year since Hamas attacked Israel, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.
—Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 7 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for slaughter
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slaughter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near slaughter
Cite this Entry
“Slaughter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slaughter. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
slaughter
1 of 2 noun
slaugh·ter
ˈslȯt-ər 
1
: the act of killing
especially
: the butchering of livestock for market
2
: destruction of human lives in large numbers (as in war or a massacre)
slaughter
2 of 2 verbLove words? Need even more definitions?
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