mas´sa|crer

mas|sa|cre «MAS uh kuhr», noun, verb, -cred, -cring.

–n.

1. wholesale, pitiless slaughter of people or animals: »

The hunters came from the East to massacre the buffalo of the plains, killing several million in a short time.

SYNONYM(S): butchery, carnage.

2. Figurative: »

the specter of automation causing a wholesale massacre of jobs (Wall Street Journal). Highways…are responsible for the massacre of the countryside (Ada Louise Huxtable).

–v.t.

1. to kill (many people or animals) needlessly or cruelly; slaughter in large numbers: »

The cavalry massacred many Indians. The savages had massacred many of the garrison after capitulation (Benjamin Franklin).

SYNONYM(S): butcher.

2. Figurative: »

a big brawling demagogue, who massacred the king's English (Saturday Review).

╂[< French massacre < Old French macecle, and mache-col a shambles, butchery, perhaps ultimately < Vulgar Latin maccāre beat (< a Germanic word) + Latin collum neck]

–mas´sa|crer, noun.