Butch"er (?), n. [OE. bochere,
bochier, OF. bochier, F. boucher, orig., slaughterer
of buck goats, fr. OF. boc, F. bouc, a buck goat; of German
or Celtic origin. See Buck the animal.] 1. One
who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose
occupation it is to kill animals for food.
2. A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers,
or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in
battle. "Butcher of an innocent child." Shak.
Butcher bird (Zoöl.), a species of
shrike of the genus Lanius.
☞ The Lanius excubitor is the common butcher bird of Europe.
In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher
bird. The American species are L.borealis, or northern
butcher bird, and L. Ludovicianus or loggerhead shrike.
The name butcher bird is derived from its habit of suspending its
prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it.
Butcher's meat, such flesh of animals slaughtered
for food as is sold for that purpose by butchers, as beef, mutton, lamb,
and pork.
Butch"er, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Butchered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Butchering.] 1. To kill or slaughter (animals)
for food, or for market; as, to butcher hogs.
2. To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually
bloody or barbarous manner. Macaulay.
[Ithocles] was murdered, rather butchered.
Ford.