butcher

Everyday

1. A butcher is a person whose job is cutting and selling meat. tree →
2. The butcher's is the shop where meat is sold. tree →
3. To butcher an animal is to kill it and cut it up for meat. tree →
4. To butcher people is to kill them cruelly. tree →
5. (informal) To butcher something is to spoil it badly: «He butchered that song». tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life families buy sausages, mince and chops at the butcher's. In history, «butcher» can describe a cruel leader. Jokingly, people say someone butchered a song, a haircut or a word. Phrases: the butcher's, butcher's shop, have a butcher's (UK rhyming slang: have a look).

Examples

• Mum bought sausages at the butcher's. tree →
• The butcher cut the meat into chops. tree →
• Our butcher wears a striped apron. tree →
• Sorry, I totally butchered your name. tree →
• The singer butchered the national anthem. tree →
• Give us a butcher's at your new phone. tree →
• The cruel king was called a butcher by his people. tree →
• "I'm a butcher by trade, not a doctor." tree →

Note

«The butcher's» means the shop (short for the butcher's shop). «Have a butcher's» is Cockney rhyming slang (butcher's hook = look). Pronounced «BUTCH-er», with «u» as in «put».