Word.ws English Dictionary

killcows

killcows is the plural of killcow.

Meaning of killcow

Noun

killcow (plural killcows)

  1. (obsolete) 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...
  2. (figuratively, obsolete) 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

Questions about killcows

What is killcows the plural of?
Killcows is the plural of killcow.

Words near killcows in the dictionary

  1. killcam
  2. killcams
  3. Killcare
  4. Killcare Heights
  5. killcow
  6. killcows
  7. killcrop
  8. killcrops
  9. killdee
  10. killdeer
  11. killdeers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: killcows (page history and authors); 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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