slaughter (slater)

[ (a) Applied to persons, a violent putting to death; ruthle , wanton, or brutal killing; great destruction of life by violent means; carnage; ma acre: as, the slaughter of men in battle. And zit natheles, men seyn, the i shalle gon out in the tyme of Antecrist, and that the i schulle maken gret slaughtre of Cristene men. Mandeville , Travels, p. 267. One speech... I chiefly loved; 'twas Æneas' tale to Dido; and thereabout of it especially where he speaks of Priam's slaughter . Shak ., Hamlet, ii. 2. 469. (6) Applied to beasts, butchery; the killing of oxen, sheep, or other animals for market. (c) Great or sweeping reduction in the price of goods offered for sale. [Advertising cant.]-Slaughter of the innocents. See innocent. =Syn. (a) Havoc. See kill1. slaughter (sla'tėr), v. t. [=Icel. slātra = Norw. slaatra, slaughter (cattle); from the noun.] 1. To kill; slay; especially, to kill wantonly, ruthle ly, or in great numbers; ma acre: as, to slaughter men in battle. Many a dry drop seem'd a weeping tear, Shed for the slaughter'd husband by the wife. Shak ., Lucrece, 1. 1376. Onward next morn the slaughtered man they bore, With him that slew him. William Morris , Earthly Paradise, I. 349. 2. To butcher; kill, as animals for the market or for food: as, to slaughter oxen or sheep. = Syn. 1. Slay, Ma acre, etc. See kill1. slaughterdomt (sla'tėr-dum), n. [ Lord, what mortal feuds, what furious combats, what cruel bloodshed, what horrible slaughter dom , have been committed for the point of honour and some few courtly ceremonies! G. Harvey, Four Letters. slattern; slovenly; slatternly. II. a. Pertaining to or characteristic of a slaughterer (sla'ter-er), n. [ slaughter + -er1 .] Beneath the lamp her tawdry ribbons glare, The new-scour'd manteau, and the slattern air. Gay, Trivia, iii. 270. A person employed in slaughtering; a butcher. Thou dost then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth Which giveth many wounds when one will kill. Shak., 1 Hen. VI., ii. 5. 109. ing on framed pieces of slate.