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
Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 20 May 2024
Yet today the slaughter in Darfur is resuming — and the international response is not.
—Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 18 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for slaughter 
Noun
The Trump administration sanctioned Raisi for his role in carrying out the massacre of 5,000 Iranian political prisoners in 1988 and for his role in the clerical regime’s slaughter of 1,500 Iranian demonstrators in 2019.
—Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 20 May 2024
Yet today the slaughter in Darfur is resuming — and the international response is not.
—Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 18 May 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 28 May. 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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