Hypertext Webster Gateway: "butcher"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

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)

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) 1.7 (wn)

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