Definitions for massacre
ˈmæs ə kərmas·sacre

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. slaughter, massacre, mass murder, carnage, butchery(verb)

   the savage and excessive killing of many people

2. massacre, slaughter, mow down(verb)

   kill a large number of people indiscriminately

   "The Hutus massacred the Tutsis in Rwanda"

GCIDE(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Massacre(n.)

   The killing of a considerable number of human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; as, the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day; the St. Valentine's Day massacre; the Amritsar massacre; the Wounded Knee massacre.

   Etymology: [F., fr. LL. mazacrium; cf. Prov. G. metzgern, metzgen, to kill cattle, G. metzger a butcher, and LG. matsken to cut, hew, OHG. meizan to cut, Goth. mitan.]

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. massacre(Noun)

   The intentional killing of a considerable number of human beings, under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people.

2. massacre(Noun)

   Murder.

3. massacre(Verb)

   To kill in considerable numbers where much resistance can not be made; to kill with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to the usages of nations; to butcher; to slaughter - limited to the killing of human beings.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Massacre(noun)

   the killing of a considerable number of human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; as, the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day

   Etymology: [F., fr. LL. mazacrium; cf. Prov. G. metzgern, metzgen, to kill cattle, G. metzger a butcher, and LG. matsken to cut, hew, OHG. meizan to cut, Goth. mitan.]

2. Massacre(noun)

   murder

   Etymology: [F., fr. LL. mazacrium; cf. Prov. G. metzgern, metzgen, to kill cattle, G. metzger a butcher, and LG. matsken to cut, hew, OHG. meizan to cut, Goth. mitan.]

3. Massacre(noun)

   to kill in considerable numbers where much resistance can not be made; to kill with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to the usages of nations; to butcher; to slaughter; -- limited to the killing of human beings

   Etymology: [F., fr. LL. mazacrium; cf. Prov. G. metzgern, metzgen, to kill cattle, G. metzger a butcher, and LG. matsken to cut, hew, OHG. meizan to cut, Goth. mitan.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Massacre

   A massacre is an incident where some group is killed by another, and the perpetrating party are perceived to be in total control of force while the victimized party is perceived to be helpless and/or innocent with regard to any legitimate offense. There is no clear-cut definition for when killings are referred to as massacres or not, rather, this choice is a result of an individual or collective assessment, depending e.g. on how the circumstances of the killing align with given ideas of acceptable use of force and on the desired status of an event in collective memory. The first recorded use in English of the word massacre in the name of an event is "Marlowe, The massacre at Paris". The word is ultimately derived from a Middle Low German *matskelen meaning "to slaughter". Massacre can also be used as a verb, as "To kill in numbers, esp. brutally and indiscriminately", the first usage of which was "1588 J. PENRY Viewe Publ. Wants Wales 65 Men which make no conscience for gaine sake, to break the law of the æternall, and massaker soules...are dangerous subjects". The term can also be used metaphorically for events that do not involve any deaths, such as the Saturday Night Massacre - the dismissals and resignations of political appointees during the Watergate scandal.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Massacre

   mas′a-kėr, n. indiscriminate slaughter, esp. with cruelty: carnage.—v.t. to kill with violence and cruelty: to slaughter. [Fr.; from the Teut., as in Low Ger. matsken, to cut; cf. Ger. metz-ger, a butcher.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. massacre

   The killing of human beings by indiscriminate slaughter, murder of numbers with cruelty or atrocity, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; cold-blooded destruction of life; butchery; carnage. The following are among the most remarkable:

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. massacre

   Song lyrics by massacre -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by massacre on the Lyrics.com website.

How to pronounce massacre?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say massacre in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of massacre in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of massacre in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of massacre in a Sentence

1. Charles Krauthammer:

   Had the flag not existed or not been on the grounds of the capitol, this massacre would have happened in any case, but it's the standard liberal impulse: something happened really bad. So there's got to be a problem, there has to be a solution, we must do something, even if that something is entirely irrelevant.

2. Charles Krauthammer:

   That is a New York massacre.

3. Jimmy Cherizier:

   I would never massacre people in the same social class as me.

4. Margaret Mead:

   Women should be permitted to volunteer for non-combat service, they should not be accepted, voluntarily or through the draft, as combat soldiers. We know of no comparable ways of training women and girls, and we have no real way of knowing whether the kinds of training that teach men both courage and restraint would be adaptable to women or effective in a crisis. But the evidence of history and comparative studies of other species suggest that women as a fighting body might be far less amenable to the rules that prevent warfare from becoming a massacre and, with the use of modern weapons, that protect the survival of all humanity. This is what I meant by saying that women in combat might be too fierce.

5. Leonard Cohen:

   In a massacre, there’s no decent place to stand.

Images & Illustrations of massacre

Popularity rank by frequency of use