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Definition of butcher verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

butcher

verb
 
/ˈbʊtʃə(r)/
 
/ˈbʊtʃər/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they butcher
 
/ˈbʊtʃə(r)/
 
/ˈbʊtʃər/
he / she / it butchers
 
/ˈbʊtʃəz/
 
/ˈbʊtʃərz/
past simple butchered
 
/ˈbʊtʃəd/
 
/ˈbʊtʃərd/
past participle butchered
 
/ˈbʊtʃəd/
 
/ˈbʊtʃərd/
-ing form butchering
 
/ˈbʊtʃərɪŋ/
 
/ˈbʊtʃərɪŋ/
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  1. butcher somebody to kill people in a very cruel and violent way
  2. butcher something to kill animals and cut them up for use as meatTopics Farmingc2
  3. butcher something (especially North American English) to make something less good or successful by doing it very badly
    • The script was good, but those guys butchered it.
  4. Word OriginMiddle English: from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French bochier, from boc ‘he-goat’, probably of the same ultimate origin as the verb buck.
See butcher in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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