Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows
or the iPhone/iPad and Android apps
Noun: butchery  bû-chu-ree
  1. The business of a butcher
    "He learned butchery from his father and took over the family meat shop";
    - butchering
     
  2. A building where animals are butchered
    "The new butchery was built with modern hygiene standards in mind";
    - abattoir [Brit], shambles [archaic], slaughterhouse
     
  3. The savage and excessive killing of many people
    "The butchery of civilians during the conflict was widely condemned";
    - slaughter, massacre, mass murder, carnage

Derived forms: butcheries

Type of: building, business, business enterprise, commercial enterprise, edifice, execution, murder, slaying

Encyclopedia: Butchery