British (usually London cockney slang)- Location used to hide all types of stolen goods.
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Etymology: Derived from the far older act of livestock-theft. Butchers received stolen animals because owners could no longer recognise their livestock after the animal had been
slaughtered. Animals were very valuable commodities and a robber could
potentially sustain a living from stealing livestock and selling them to butcher-fences. A ‘fence’ handler of stolen goods.
A
slaughterhouse, hence abbrev. in slang to a ’slaughter’. See ‘slaughter’ used in the British TV series ‘Minder’
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