con-trŭcīdo, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a., to hew or cut to pieces, to cut down, to put to the sword, slay (rare, but in good prose).
I Prop.: debilitato corpore et contrucidato se abjecit exanimatus (cf., shortly after, concisum vulneribus), Cic. Sest. 37, 79; so, plebem immisso milite, Sen. Ira, 1, 2, 3: universos, Suet. Calig. 28; cf. id. ib. 48; id. Ner. 43 al.: taurorum opima corpora, Sen. Ep. 115, 5: bestias ad munus populi comparatas, Suet. Caes. 75.—*
II Trop.: hi summi imperii nomine armati rem publicam contrucidaverunt, cut in pieces , Cic. Sest. 10, 24 (v. the figure in connection).