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macello

slaughterhouse

noun mah-CHEL-loh Rare

Also means

carnage, bloodbath

Usage Note

Macello literally means a slaughterhouse but is very commonly used colloquially to mean a bloody mess or disaster: che macello! ('what a mess! / what a slaughter!'). It can also describe a chaotic situation with no blood involved. Do not confuse with macellaio ('butcher').

Examples

"Quella partita è stata un vero macello."

Natural Translation

That match was a real bloodbath.

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