Meanings
plural Piccadilly butchers
- UKderogatoryobsoleteslangA member of the regiment of Horse Guards, or "Royal Blues".
"In 1810, my father very nearly had his head cloven by a Piccadilly butcher when merely looking on to see Sir Francis Burdett taken to the tower."
1913, Ash's Monthly, page 5321 more example
The mob in the meantime holloaed out, "No Corn Bill!" While they were proceeding in this manner, a cry was raised that "the Piccadilly butchers were coming."
1875, The Law Magazine and Review, page 554
Origin
In reference to their savage onslaught upon the crowd on the occasion of the arrest of Sir Francis Burdett at his house in Piccadilly.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Piccadilly butcher. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Piccadilly%20butcher
“Piccadilly butcher.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Piccadilly%20butcher. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Piccadilly butcher,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Piccadilly%20butcher.
Source: Piccadilly butcher on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.