slaughter
基本释义
[noun] the killing of animals for food
[名词] 宰杀动物用作食物
深入解读
Slaughter 一词源自古北欧语 slatr （屠杀、屠宰肉），其拼写同小站（微信公众号：田间小站）上周推送的 onslaught 一样，也可能是受现已过时的英语单词 slaught （屠杀）的影响而来。
自14世纪进入英语后， slaughter 本质上是一个屠夫专用术语表示“屠宰、宰杀”，多指大批宰杀动物以供食用，比如：
- 这些鸭子正在育肥，以便在春季屠宰。
The ducks are being fattened for slaughter in spring.
从这个概念出发， slaughter 常用来引申指“屠杀、杀戮”，多指在战争中像屠宰大批牲畜那样大规模残酷无情地杀死人或动物，比如：
- 古朴典雅的海滨村庄被毁，男人、女人和儿童惨遭杀戮。
Men, women and children were slaughtered and the quaint seaside village destroyed.
等到了16世纪30年代，上述这些名词含义也开始相应用作动词。而在口语中作动词时，则常用 slaughter 喻指在体育比赛等竞赛中“大比分击败、轻松击败、使惨败”，就像是将对手屠杀干净了那般，这个概念也可以用作名词，比如：
- 我们浪费了好几次得分机会，以1:10惨败给主队。
We squandered several good scoring chances and were slaughtered 10–1 by the home team. - 昨天的比赛绝对是场一边倒的比赛。
Yesterday’s game was an absolute slaughter.
好书例句
Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family.
任何要继续抵抗的人和他们的家人，无论是男是女还是小孩，都会被处死。
出自英国作家J·K·罗琳的奇幻小说《哈利·波特》系列的第七本《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》（Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows）。
外刊例句
- One reason they are powerhouses of evolution is that they oversee a relentless and prodigious slaughter, mutating as they do so.
它们之所以是进化的推进器，原因之一是它们主导着一场残酷的大规模屠杀，并在此过程中发生突变。
——《经济学人》 - Tens of thousands of elephants have been slaughtered for their ivory by the poachers, who have grown increasingly militarized and more ruthless.
偷猎者屠杀了数以万计的大象以获取象牙，这些偷猎者变得愈发军事化，也越来越残忍。
——《纽约时报》
详细用法
常见用法：
- Mass slaughter – 大规模屠杀
- The massacre resulted in a mass slaughter of innocent civilians. (这次大屠杀导致了无辜平民的大规模屠杀。)
- Animal slaughter – 动物屠宰
- The farm specializes in the slaughter of livestock for meat production. (这个农场专门从事牲畜的屠宰，用于肉类生产。)
- Slaughterhouse – 屠宰场
- The animals are processed at the local slaughterhouse before being distributed to the market. (这些动物在当地的屠宰场加工处理后才分配到市场上。)
- Slaughter of innocent – 无辜者的屠杀
- The international community strongly condemned the senseless slaughter of innocent civilians. (国际社会强烈谴责对无辜平民的无意义屠杀。)
- Bloody slaughter – 血腥屠杀
- The history books are filled with accounts of bloody slaughters during wars. (历史书中充满了关于战争中血腥屠杀的记载。)
描述动物屠宰和食品加工的用法：
- Slaughter a cow – 屠宰一头牛
- The butchers slaughtered the cow and prepared the meat for sale. (屠夫们屠宰了这头牛，并准备好肉出售。)
- Slaughter a pig – 屠宰一头猪
- The farmers hired professionals to slaughter the pigs for the upcoming festival. (农民雇佣了专业人员为即将到来的节日屠宰猪。)
- Slaughter chickens – 屠宰鸡
- The poultry farm slaughters thousands of chickens every day to meet the demand for poultry products. (这个家禽场每天屠宰数千只鸡，以满足家禽产品的需求。)
- Slaughter and process meat – 屠宰和加工肉类
- The meat processing factory slaughters and processes meat for various food products. (这家肉类加工厂屠宰和加工肉类用于各种食品产品。)
- Slaughter livestock – 屠宰牲畜
- The rancher hired skilled workers to slaughter the livestock for market sale. (牧场主雇佣熟练的工人为了市场销售屠宰牲畜。)
其他用法：
- Political slaughter – 政治屠杀
- The political turmoil resulted in the slaughter of many careers and reputations. (政治动荡导致许多职业和声誉的毁灭。)
- Slaughter of the innocents – 无辜者的屠杀
- The artist depicted the biblical scene of the slaughter of the innocents in a powerful painting. (这位艺术家用一幅有力的画作描绘了《圣经》中无辜者的屠杀场景。)
- Slaughter in the name of religion – 以宗教名义的屠杀
- Throughout history, there have been instances of slaughter in the name of religion. (在历史上，曾发生过以宗教名义的屠杀事件。)
- Slaughter as a metaphor – 以屠杀作为隐喻
- The author used the concept of slaughter as a metaphor for the destruction of innocence. (作者将屠杀的概念用作摧毁无辜的隐喻。)
- Senseless slaughter – 无意义的屠杀
- The senseless slaughter of wildlife for their body parts is a tragic consequence of illegal poaching. (无意义地屠杀野生动物以获取它们的身体部分是非法偷猎的悲剧后果。)
同近义词
decimate: to kill large numbers of animals, plants or people in a particular area
genocide: the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group
massacre: an indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people
