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: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)