Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Butcher \Butch"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Butchered}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Butchering}.]
   1. To kill or slaughter (animals) for food, or for market;
      as, to butcher hogs.

   2. To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or
      barbarous manner. --Macaulay.

            [Ithocles] was murdered, rather butchered. --Ford.