1. Kill (animals) usually for food consumption
   "They slaughtered their only goat to survive the winter";
   - butcher
    
2. Kill a large number of people indiscriminately
   "The Hutus slaughtered the Tutsis in Rwanda";
   - massacre, mow down, butcher
    
3. [informal] Beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight
   "We slaughtered the other team on Sunday!";
   - cream [informal], clobber [informal], drub [informal], thrash [informal], lick [informal], paste [informal], blow away [informal], muller [Brit, informal], marmelize [Brit, informal], marmelise [Brit, informal], trounce, whale [N. Amer, informal], hammer [informal], wipe the floor [informal], marmalise [Brit, informal], beat hollow [informal], marmalize [Brit, informal], smoke [N. Amer, informal], shellack [N. Amer, informal], shellac [N. Amer, informal]

1. The killing of animals (as for food)
   "The slaughter of cattle is strictly regulated"; "The annual whale slaughter drew international condemnation"
    
2. The savage and excessive killing of many people
   "The slaughter of civilians during the conflict was widely condemned";
   - massacre, mass murder, carnage, butchery
    
3. A sound defeat
   "The championship game turned into a slaughter for the home team";
   - thrashing, walloping, debacle, drubbing [informal], trouncing, whipping, pasting [informal], hammering [informal], débâcle, beatdown [N. Amer], smackdown [N. Amer, informal], licking [informal]

Derived forms: slaughtered, slaughters, slaughtering

Type of: beat, beat out, crush, defeat, execution, kill, killing, murder, putting to death, shell [US], slaying, trounce, vanquish

Part of: butchering, butchery

Encyclopedia: Slaughter, Richard