Meanings
- uncountableA scam technique in which victims are tricked into investing large amounts of money into a fictitious brokerage (usually a cryptocurrency wallet), which actually sends their funds directly to the scammers.
According to news reports, pig-butchering scams started in China in 2016. Back then, scammers groomed their victims to place bets on fake gambling websites.
2022 February 20, Wong Shiying, “The pig-butchering scam: Con artists who come for your heart and wallet”, in The Straits Times2 more examples
Intense efforts were also made to crack down on four types of high-incidence network fraud cases, namely, network loans, network click farming, pig-butchering scams and pretending as customer service personnel.
2022, China Internet Development Report 2020, page 157'Pig butchering' scammers usually send a message via Whatsapp, text or another app like Tinder, as if it was intended for someone else, often with an attractive person’s profile photo.
2022 August 25, Cheyenne DeVon, “Got a text from a wrong number? It could be an attempt at 'pig butchering,' a crypto scam costing investors millions”, in CNBC - uncountableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pig, butchering.
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of pig butcher
Origin
Calque from Mandarin 殺豬盤／杀猪盘 (shāzhūpán, “pig-butchering plate”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
pig butchering. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pig%20butchering
“pig butchering.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pig%20butchering. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pig butchering,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pig%20butchering.
Source: pig butchering on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.