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massacrer

massacre, butcher

verb mah-sah-KREH Less Common

Also means

mangle, botch

Usage Note

Massacrer can mean both to kill in large numbers and, colloquially, to ruin something through incompetence — il a massacré la chanson means 'he butchered the song.' The noun massacre shares the same form in French. In informal speech it often replaces 'ruiner' when describing a terrible performance.

Examples

"Les soldats ont massacré le village."

Natural Translation

The soldiers massacred the village.

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