as in slaughter
the killing of a large number of people
butchery on a scale that horrified the civilized world
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Recent Examples of butchery
Neanderthals who lived in present-day Israel may have passed down local butchery techniques, and experiments indicated that late Pleistocene Neanderthals’ stable nitrogen-isotope ratios indicate not hypercarnivory but a diet rich in maggots.
—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
The event will be hosted by Caitlin and Tom Moriarty at Moriarty Meats, who will be providing regional specialty sandwiches—boeuf on weck—to fuel us through an evening of live butchery demonstration, an author Q&A, and book signing.
—Chloe Sorvino, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Of the remains, 222 had color changes that are associated with cremation, while 69 of those bones had signs of butchery likely performed after death.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 7 Aug. 2025
Yet, instead of protesting in the streets condemning Hamas’ sadistic butchery and demanding the terror group release its hostages and leave the Gaza Strip so that the Palestinian people may crawl out from beneath its rancid thumb, the American left focuses its ire on Israel instead.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for butchery
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
The event will be hosted by Caitlin and Tom Moriarty at Moriarty Meats, who will be providing regional specialty sandwiches—boeuf on weck—to fuel us through an evening of live butchery demonstration, an author Q&A, and book signing.
—Chloe Sorvino, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Of the remains, 222 had color changes that are associated with cremation, while 69 of those bones had signs of butchery likely performed after death.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 7 Aug. 2025
Yet, instead of protesting in the streets condemning Hamas’ sadistic butchery and demanding the terror group release its hostages and leave the Gaza Strip so that the Palestinian people may crawl out from beneath its rancid thumb, the American left focuses its ire on Israel instead.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for butchery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for butchery
Noun
-
The sport of wrestling, a national pastime in Iran, has been hit hard by the Iranian regime’s slaughter of protesters seeking to end 47 years of Islamist totalitarian rule in the country.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
7 Feb. 2026
-
The animal rights activist saved two cows from slaughter, Liberty and Indigo, in 2020.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The teenager’s accounts were littered with references to white supremacy, antisemitism and violence, with a particular focus on past mass shootings, including the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The regime is resorting to massacres to suppress the unrest.—
Shahrnush Parsipur,
Time,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Butchery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/butchery. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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