to butcher; to slaughter for meat; to shoot dead; to cut down (a tree); to destroy or demolish (a wall); to fall down, especially of tall things, such as trees
“« Fulgurante », « phénoménale » ou « stupéfiante » : les conseillers scientifiques du gouvernement britannique n’ont pas de mots assez forts pour qualifier la vague Omicron qui s’abat sur le Royaume-Uni.” — "Striking", "phenomenal", or "stupefying": the scientific advisers to the British government do not have words strong enough to describe the Omicron wave which descending upon the United Kingdom.
Inherited from Middle French abbatre, from Old French abatre, from Late Latin abbattere, from Latin battere. Cognate with Catalan abatre, Corsican abbatta, abbatte, Galician abater, Italian abbattere, Occitan abatre, Portuguese abater, Romanian abate, Sardinian abbàttiri, Sicilian abbàttiri, Spanish abatir.