Butcher Meaning
/ˈbʊt͡ʃə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
nounA brutal or indiscriminate killer.
Sentence Examples
That ugly butcher resembles that fictional monster.
The baker's is next door to the butcher's.
The butcher who sold me this beef is always friendly.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ carefully cut the beef into steaks for the waiting customers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ in the shop recommended the best cut of meat for my stew.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English bocher, boucher, from Old French bouchier (“goat slaughterer”), from Old French bouc (“goat”), from Medieval Latin buccus (“he-goat”), from Frankish *bukk, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz (“male goat, male deer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuǵ- (“buck, ram”). See also English buck.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days..."
— 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in 'The House Behind the Cedars:
"Butcher of an innocent child."
— c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
"He tells me he now earns three times as much as he did butchering."
— 2008, Monte Dwyer, Red In The Centre: The Australian Bush Through Urban Eyes, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 121:
"Weaver and Shaw dance together and almost immediately another butch, an even butcher butch (Leslie Feinberg), cuts in to dance with Shaw (though Shaw would kill me if she heard me call someone a butcher butch)."
— 2003, Alisa Solomon, Re-Dressing the Canon: Essays on Theatre and Gender, page 170:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ carefully cut the beef into steaks for the waiting customers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ in the shop recommended the best cut of meat for my stew.