■ verb
1》 reduce the population of (a wild animal) by selective slaughter.
↘send (an unwanted farm animal) to be slaughtered.
2》 obtain from a variety of sources: anecdotes ~ed from Greek and Roman history.
■ noun a selective slaughter of wild animals.
↘a livestock animal selected for killing.
Derivatives
~er noun
Origin
ME: from OFr. coillier , based on L. colligere (see collect 1 ).