killcow
killcow noun: a butcher.
Noun
killcow (plural killcows)
- A butcher.
- Of all occupations that now adays are used / I would not be a butcher, for that's to be refused; / For whatever is gotten, or whatever is gained, / He shall be call'd Kill-cow, and so shall be named.c. 15th century, anonymous author, Old Ballad; quoted in Nares, Robert; Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchard; Wright, Thomas, A Glossary; or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to...
- And how do I look now? Like one that was begotten under a butcher's stall, I warrant, and born in a slaughter-house? I know there's never a Kill-cow i' th' city becomes a woollen apron better than I do.c. 1636, anonymous author, The London Chanticleers, scene 4; A Select Collection of Old English Plays, 4th edition, New York: Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1964
- A violent person; a bully; a brutal or indiscriminate killer.
- Muster his arrant braveries together, and where such a terrible kill-cow, or such a vengeable bull-beggar, to deal withal?1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierce's Supererogation; or, A New Praise of the Old Ass, published 1815, page 84
Synonyms of killcow
Forms of killcow
| plural | killcows |
|---|
Origin of killcow
From kill + cow.
Questions about killcow
- What does killcow mean?
- Killcow means a butcher.
- What part of speech is killcow?
- Killcow is a noun.
- What is the plural of killcow?
- The plural of killcow is killcows.
Words near killcow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: killcow (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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