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knacker:

(also ‘knackerman‘)

(the first ‘k’ is silent)

a knacker cutting up a horse

a person who kills horses (and other farm animals) that are no longer fit for work, about to die, and even dead, and sells their various body parts as animal food;

knackermen ready with their knackercart in their knackeryard

a person who buys and breaks up old buildings, ships, etc., in order to sell the materials in them that are still of use;

(in Irish English) an indecent/ill-mannered fellow

{Note: ‘Knacker’, as a verb, is used to mean “to become tired”, usually after some hard work, e.g. “Slow down or take a break or else you knacker yourself out.”, and also to mean “to get hurt”; and in the present day usage ‘knacker’ is used more often in the phrasal verb “to be ready/fit for the knackeryard” to mean that something ‘has become too old or too worn out to work properly or to be of any use’.}

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