massacre
[noun]
Synonyms:
- slaughter, annihilation, blood bath, butchery, carnage, extermination, holocaust, murder
[verb]
Synonyms:
- slaughter, butcher, cut to pieces, exterminate, kill, mow down, murder, wipe out

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Related Words: blood purge, decimation, genocide, pogrom, internecion, assassination, killing, murder, slaying

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English Thesaurus: kill, murder, commit manslaughter, assassinate, slay, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. mas‧sa‧cre¹ /ˈmæsəkə $ -ər/ 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.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. massacre² 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.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

massacre
noun
ADJ. appalling, bloody, cold-blooded, horrible, terrible an appalling massacre of women and children
VERB + MASSACRE be responsible for, carry out, perpetrate, take part in The massacre was carried out by enemy troops. As many as fifty men took part in the massacre.
be killed in | escape, survive
MASSACRE + VERB take place
PREP. ~ by a massacre by rebel soldiers
PHRASES the victims of a massacre

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

kill to make someone die:
The driver and his passenger were killed in the crash.
He was killed by rival gang members.
murder to deliberately kill someone – used when talking about this as a crime:
He was convicted of murdering his wife.
commit manslaughter to kill someone without intending to – used when talking about this as a crime:
The court ruled that the guard had committed manslaughter.
assassinate to deliberately kill an important person, especially a politician:
He was part of a plot to assassinate Hitler.
slay to kill someone or something in a violent way – used in newspaper reports and also in old stories:
Two teenagers were slain in the shootings.
St. George slew the dragon.
The king was slain at the battle of Hastings.
execute formal (also put somebody to death) to kill someone as a punishment for a crime:
McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a bombing attack, was executed by lethal injection.
eliminate to kill someone in order to prevent them from causing trouble:
a ruthless dictator who eliminated all his rivals
take somebody out informal to kill someone in order to get rid of them, especially an enemy or someone who is causing trouble for you:
US forces used air strikes to take out the enemy positions.
One of the other drug dealers may have decided to take him out.
bump somebody off humorous informal to kill someone:
He was so irritating I felt like bumping him off myself.
do away with somebody informal to kill someone:
The settlers in Jamestown had been done away with, but no one knew how.
commit suicide to kill yourself:
He committed suicide after the death of his girlfriend.
take your own life formal to kill yourself:
He had taken his own life while he was severely depressed.
They believe that it is a sin to take your own life.
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.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲