slaughter

Universal Words noun, verb noun [U] 1 the killing of animals for their meat: cows taken for slaughter 2 the cruel killing of large numbers of people at one time, especially in a war SYNMASSACRE: the wholesale slaughter of innocent people IDIOMS see LAMBn. verb [VN] 1 to kill an animal, usually for its meat: The lambs are taken to the local abattoir to be slaughtered. 2 to kill a large number of people or animals violently: Men, women and children were slaughtered and villages destroyed. 3 (informal) to defeat sb/sth by a large number of points in a sports game, competition, etc: We were slaughtered 101 by the home team.