Dictionary

Piccadilly butcher en · NOUN

Etymology

In reference to their savage onslaught upon the crowd on the occasion of the arrest of Sir Francis Burdett at his house in Piccadilly.

Meanings

1. (UK, derogatory, obsolete, slang) A 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 532:
   • 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:

Forms

wikipedia: Francis Burdett