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.

Butcher \Butch"er\, n. [OE. bochere, bochier, OF. bochier, F.
   boucher, orig., slaughterer of buck goats, fr. OF. boc, F.
   bouc, a buck goat; of German or Celtic origin. See {Buck} the
   animal.]
   1. One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for
      market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for
      food.

   2. A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with
      unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as
      in battle. ``Butcher of an innocent child.'' --Shak.

   {Butcher bird} (Zo["o]l.), a species of shrike of the genus
      {Lanius}.

   Note: The {Lanius excubitor} is the common butcher bird of
         Europe. In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called
         the {lesser butcher bird}. The American species are
         {L.borealis}, or {northern butcher bird}, and {L.
         Ludovicianus} or {loggerhead shrike}. The name butcher
         bird is derived from its habit of suspending its prey
         impaled upon thorns, after killing it.

   {Butcher's meat}, such flesh of animals slaughtered for food
      as is sold for that purpose by butchers, as beef, mutton,
      lamb, and pork.

Source : WordNet®

butcher
     n 1: a retailer of meat [syn: {meatman}]
     2: a brutal indiscriminate murderer
     3: a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market [syn: {slaughterer}]
     4: someone who makes mistakes because of incompetence [syn: {bungler},
         {blunderer}, {fumbler}, {bumbler}, {stumbler}, {sad sack},
         {botcher}, {fuckup}]

butcher
     v : kill (animals) usually for food consumption; "They
         slaughtered their only goat to survive the winter" [syn:
         {slaughter}]