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(5.00 / 1 vote)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. Tai Wong:

   The big jump in consumer confidence coupled with the recovery in stocks has gold dipping to $1,135 near the key $1,130 pivot, from which gold fell to lows of the move on the Sunday Night Massacre and subsequently regained last week.

2. Hua Chunying:

   No matter what steps Japan may take to promote and market their mistaken position it cannot change the basic reality that the Diaoyu islands belong to China, the Nanjing massacre was an atrocity carried out by the Japanese militarists when they invaded China. The evidence is cast iron and a conclusion was reached long ago about it. This whitewashing and censoring by Japan in these text books again shows that Japan is unwilling to face up to historical mistakes.

3. Marlon Kimpson:

   This will not be done in a knee-jerk fashion, i'm going to be in focus groups with business leaders and talking to constituents. The massacre opened up an opportunity but to build a super majority will require a lot of work.

4. Julian LeBaron:

   The whole structure is rotten to the core, they( authorities) have told us they are putting more resources into solving this than any other massacre in history, but a year on no one has been convicted for pulling the trigger, everyone promised us they would take each person who participated and bring them to justice, but I dont know what that means.

5. Prosecutor George Brauchler:

   He made a decision to massacre, and he did, twelve dead from the community. Can anything outweigh that? No. No.

Images & Illustrations of massacre

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