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# butcher

noun (a butcher, butchers; the butcher's = the shop); verb (butcher, butchers, butchered, butchering)

«butcher» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A butcher is a person whose job is cutting and selling meat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#m1)
2. The butcher's is the shop where meat is sold. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#m2)
3. To butcher an animal is to kill it and cut it up for meat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#m3)
4. To butcher people is to kill them cruelly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#m4)
5. (informal) To butcher something is to spoil it badly: «He butchered that song». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#m5)

### In the lessons

In everyday life families buy sausages, mince and chops at the butcher's. In history, «butcher» can describe a cruel leader. Jokingly, people say someone butchered a song, a haircut or a word. Phrases: the butcher's, butcher's shop, have a butcher's (UK rhyming slang: have a look).

### Examples

- Mum bought sausages at the butcher's. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x1)
- The butcher cut the meat into chops. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x2)
- Our butcher wears a striped apron. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x3)
- Sorry, I totally butchered your name. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x4)
- The singer butchered the national anthem. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x5)
- Give us a butcher's at your new phone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x6)
- The cruel king was called a butcher by his people. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x7)
- "I'm a butcher by trade, not a doctor." [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/#x8)

### Note

«The butcher's» means the shop (short for the butcher's shop). «Have a butcher's» is Cockney rhyming slang (butcher's hook = look). Pronounced «BUTCH-er», with «u» as in «put».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «butcher» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/butcher/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«butcher» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/butcher.html) on Mova free.