What does "butchery" mean?

Butchery: Murder or manslaughter, esp. when committed with unusual barbarity; great or cruel slaughter. Shak. The perpetration of human butchery. Prescott.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A slaughterhouse; the shambles; a place where blood is shed. [Obs.] Like as an ox is hanged in the butchery. Fabyan. See Massacre.

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