slaughter
part of speech
verb (slaughter, slaughters, slaughtered, slaughtering); noun (slaughter, uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) To slaughter animals means to kill them for food. tree →
2) To slaughter people means to kill many of them cruelly, for example in a war. tree →
3) (noun) Slaughter is the killing of animals for meat, or the cruel killing of many people. tree →
4) (informal) To slaughter a team or player means to beat them very easily: "we got slaughtered 8–0". tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Torah slaughter can mean killing in battle, or the killing of an animal for a sacrifice. In the prophets "lambs to the slaughter" is a picture of people brought down helplessly to destruction. Zechariah speaks of a "flock of slaughter," people doomed to be killed. Interpretation: Jewish law has strict rules for slaughtering animals for food (shechita), done quickly and with a sharp knife. The tradition reads Zechariah's flock as Israel's poor and weak, led by bad shepherds. In the primary lessons: In farming and food lessons, animals are slaughtered to make meat, under rules about welfare. In history, slaughter describes terrible battles. In sport talk, "slaughter" is an exaggeration for a big win. Phrases: slaughter animals, the slaughter of, like lambs to the slaughter, get slaughtered.
examples
- And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the vale of Shaveh — the same is the King's Vale. (Torah GEN.14.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- Presumably, the anatomy of slaughtered livestock would have been fairly familiar to many writers and readers of the time, while blessedly few indeed would have had first-hand knowledge of human innards.] Like what did He make them? (A city) [strife]. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
- Thus said the LORD my God: 'Feed the flock of slaughter; (Prophets ZEC.11.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. (Prophets ZEC.11.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. (Prophets JER.51.40, JPS 1917) tree →
- Cattle are slaughtered to provide beef. tree →
- The battle ended in terrible slaughter. tree →
- We got slaughtered 7–0 in the final. tree →
- The farmer sent the pigs to be slaughtered. tree →
- "Like lambs to the slaughter" means going without knowing the danger. tree →
- The wolves slaughtered several sheep in the night. tree →
- The storm still continuing, he was obliged to slaughter his yoke oxen for food. tree →
note
Pronounced "SLAW-ter". A slaughterhouse (or abattoir) is where animals are killed for meat. The sport meaning is informal and an exaggeration. It is a strong, upsetting word in its war meaning.
In the corpora
- And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Arameans with a great slaughter.
- Or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that were slain by Him?
- I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats.
- And they that fall away are gone deep in making slaughter; and I am rejected of them all.
- Thus said the LORD my God: 'Feed the flock of slaughter;
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «slaughter» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.