I. mas ‧ sa ‧ cre 1 /ˈmæsəkə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] when a lot of people are killed violently, especially people who cannot defend themselves:
the only survivor of the massacre
massacre of
the massacre of several hundred pro-democracy demonstrators
the Boston/Peterloo/Harperville etc massacre
the infamous Peterloo massacre of 1819
2 . [countable] informal a very bad defeat in a game or competition:
United lost in a 9–0 massacre.
II. massacre 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to kill a lot of people or animals in a violent way, especially when they cannot defend themselves:
The army massacred more than 150 unarmed civilians.
Tens of thousands of dolphins and small whales are brutally massacred every year.
2 . informal to defeat someone very badly in a game, competition etc:
The Cougars massacred the Bucs last night, 38–7.
3 . informal to spoil part of a play, a song etc by performing it very badly:
Unfortunately, Jones absolutely massacres the role of Ophelia.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ to kill a large number of people
▪ massacre to kill a large number of people in a violent way:
Thousands of peaceful demonstrators were massacred by the soldiers.
▪ slaughter to kill a large number of people in a violent way. Slaughter is also used about killing animals for food:
The army slaughtered thousands of civilians in an effort to stop the revolt.
|
The pigs were slaughtered on the farm.
▪ exterminate to kill large numbers of a particular group, so that they no longer exist:
Hitler’s goal was to exterminate the Jews.