Definition of: massacre

(mas′ə·kər) noun
The indiscriminate killing of human beings, as in savage warfare; slaughter.
—v.t. ·cred (-kərd), ·cring To kill indiscriminately or in great numbers; slaughter. [<MF <OF maçacre, macecle, ? <mache
—col butcher <macher smash + col neck <L collum]
—mas′sa·crer noun Synonyms (noun): butchery, carnage, havoc, slaughter. A massacre is the indiscriminate killing in numbers of the unresisting or defenseless; butchery is the killing of men rudely and ruthlessly as cattle are killed in the shambles. Havoc may not be so complete as massacre, nor so coldly brutal as butchery, but is more widely spread and furious; it is destruction let loose, and may be applied to organizations, interests, etc., as well as to human life. Carnage refers to widely scattered or heaped up corpses of the slain; slaughter is similar in meaning, but refers more to the process, and carnage to the result.