Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act or an instance of killing a large number of humans indiscriminately and cruelly.
- noun The slaughter of a large number of animals.
- noun Informal A severe defeat, as in a sports event.
- transitive verb To kill indiscriminately and wantonly; slaughter.
- transitive verb Informal To defeat decisively.
- transitive verb Informal To botch; bungle.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The indiscriminate killing of human beings; the unnecessary slaughter of a number of persons, as in barbarous warfare or persecution, or for revenge or plunder: as, the massacre of Glencoe: sometimes applied also to the wholesale killing of wild animals.
- noun In heraldry, a pair of antlers or attires attached to a piece of the skull, used as a bearing.
- To kill with attendant circumstances of atrocity; butcher; slaughter: commonly used in reference to the killing of a large number of human beings at once, who are not in a condition to defend themselves.
- Synonyms Murder, Slaughter, etc. See
kill .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The killing of a considerable number of human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people.
- noun obsolete Murder.
- transitive verb To kill in considerable numbers where much resistance can not be made; to kill with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to the usages of nations; to butcher; to slaughter; -- limited to the killing of human beings.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The intentional
killing of a considerable number of human beings, under circumstances ofatrocity orcruelty , or contrary to the norms of civilized people. - noun obsolete Murder.
- verb transitive To kill in considerable numbers where much resistance can not be made; to kill with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to the norms of civilized people; to butcher; to slaughter. (Often limited to the killing of human beings.)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb kill a large number of people indiscriminately
- noun the savage and excessive killing of many people
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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For a discussion of the word massacre and Marlowe, see Graham Hammill, “Time for Marlowe,” ELH, vol. 75, no.
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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For a discussion of the word massacre and Marlowe, see Graham Hammill, “Time for Marlowe,” ELH, vol. 75, no.
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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Anti-government rebels said at least 23 people were killed and many more wounded in what they called a "massacre" in Libya's third-largest city.
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Rebels in Libya are warning of what they call a "massacre" in the western city of Misrata unless NATO provides them more support against government forces.
Libyan Rebels Make Desperate Plea for Stronger NATO Action 2011
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Rebels in Libya are warning of what they call a "massacre" in the western city of Misrata unless NATO provides them more support against government forces.
Libyan Rebels Make Desperate Plea for Stronger NATO Action 2011
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Anti-government rebels said at least 23 people were killed and many more wounded in what they called a "massacre" in Libya's third-largest city.
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Meanwhile, rebels have warned of what they call a "massacre" in the western city of Misrata unless NATO provides them more support against government forces.
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Meanwhile, rebels have warned of what they call a "massacre" in the western city of Misrata unless NATO provides them more support against government forces.
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They very idea that serving gays could have have resulted in a massacre is an incredible statement.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Add Bad Ethics to the Problems of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”? 2010
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Rebels in Libya are warning of what they call a "massacre" in the western city of Misrata unless NATO provides them more support against government forces.
Libyan Rebels Make Desperate Plea for Stronger NATO Action 2011
whichbe commented on the word massacre
A whole bunch of land.
January 6, 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word massacre
I think my friend said, "I hear footsteps."
I wore my black and white dress to
The Birthday Massacre.
-Birthday Massacre.
July 28, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word massacre
In heraldry, a pair of antlers or attires attached to a piece of the skull, used as a bearing. -- Century Dictionary
October 10, 2011