noun / verb

slaughter

SLAW-ter/ˈslɔːtər/

The violent killing of living beings.

The scattered helmets and broken shields remain after the battlefield slaughter.

Quiet aftermath of a historical battlefield with many empty helmets and broken shields, symbolic mass loss, no bodies or gore.

Etymology

slaughterOld Norsebutchering; butcher meat

Old Norse slátr is akin to the Scandinavian source of slaughter and related to a verb meaning 'strike.' This connects butchery and violent killing with the physical act of striking.

In context

The Hidden Course19:00

Rather than having one butcher perform many stages on a small number of animals, packing houses divided slaughter and processing into specialized repeated tasks.

The History of Cattle — The Sacred Herd We Turned Into an Industry

More examples

The cattle are transported to a nearby plant for slaughter.
The soldiers refused orders to slaughter civilians.
Survivors described the slaughter of hundreds of villagers.

Forms

slaughter · slaughters · slaughtered · slaughtering

slaughterhouse noun — A building where animals are killed for meat.

Similar words

kill: Broadly means causing death, without necessarily implying brutality.
butcher: Often includes cutting up animals for meat after killing.
massacre: Emphasizes brutal killing of many people, often defenseless victims.