v. Obs. exc. dial. [incorrect back-formation from BUTCHER sb.]
† a. trans. To cut up, hack (obs.). b. intr. (north. dial.) To follow the trade of a butcher.
1785. [see BUTCHING].
1834. Sir H. Taylor, Artevelde, II. III. i. I shall be butching thee from nape to rump.
1846. J. T. Brockett, Gloss. N. Count. Wds. (ed. 3), I. 75. Butch, to practice the trade of a butcher, to kill.
1875. Lanc. Gloss. (E. D. S.), 63. He use’t to be a farmer, but he butches neaw.
Hence Butch-knife = butcher’s knife.
a. 1849. Poe, Wks. (1864), III. 172. White throats sweetly jagged with a ragged butch-knife dull.
