Link Centre Dictionary

guillotine

guil·lo·tine

UK/ˈɡɪlətiːn/ US/ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/ uncommon informal uk us
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

closure imposed on the debate of specific sections of a bill

Synonyms
2.

instrument of execution that consists of a weighted blade between two vertical poles; used for beheading people

verb

1.

kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine

  • “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”

Origin

Borrowed from French guillotiner (“to execute with a guillotine, to guillotine”), from guillotine (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

Phrases

  • dry guillotine
  • guillotine choke
  • guillotine clause
  • guillotine shear
  • guillotine shears
  • Hume's guillotine

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.