killcow — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A butcher.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   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.

   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.

2. A violent person; a bully; a brutal or indiscriminate killer.

   Usage

   • Figurative
   • Obsolete

   Examples

   Muster his arrant braveries together, and where such a terrible kill-cow, or such a vengeable bull-beggar, to deal withal?