Definition of Guillotine

1. Noun. Closure imposed on the debate of specific sections of a bill.

Exact synonyms: Closure By Compartment
Generic synonyms: Closure, Cloture, Gag Law, Gag Rule

2. Verb. Kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine. "They want to guillotine the prisoners "; "The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country"
Generic synonyms: Behead, Decapitate, Decollate

3. Noun. Instrument of execution that consists of a weighted blade between two vertical poles; used for beheading people.
Generic synonyms: Instrument Of Execution

Definition of Guillotine

1. n. A machine for beheading a person by one stroke of a heavy ax or blade, which slides in vertical guides, is raised by a cord, and let fall upon the neck of the victim.

2. v. t. To behead with the guillotine.

Definition of Guillotine

1. Noun. A machine used for the application of capital punishment by decapitation, consisting of a tall upright frame from which is suspended a heavy diagonal-edged blade. ¹

2. Noun. A device used for cutting stacks of paper to straight edges, usually by means of a hinged blade attached to a flat platform. ¹

3. Noun. A cloture; a motion that debate be ended and a vote taken. ¹

4. Verb. (transitive) To execute, cut or cut short (a person, a stack of paper or a debate) by use of a guillotine. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Guillotine

1. [v -TINED, -TINING, -TINES]

Medical Definition of Guillotine

1. 1. A machine for beheading a person by one stroke of a heavy ax or blade, which slides in vertical guides, is raised by a cord, and let fall upon the neck of the victim. 2. Any machine or instrument for cutting or shearing, resembling in its action a guillotine. Origin: F, from Guillotin, a French physician, who proposed, in the Constituent Assembly of 1789, to abolish decapitation with the ax or sword. The instrument was invented by Dr. Antoine Louis, and was called at first Louison or Louisette. Similar machines, however, were known earlier. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Guillotine

guilelessly
guilelessness
guilelessnesses
guiler
guilers
guiles
guiling
guillemet
guillemets
guilleminite
guillemot
guillemots
guilloche
guilloched
guilloches
guillotine (current term)
guillotine amputation
guillotined
guillotines
guillotining
guilor
guilors
guilt
guilt-ridden
guilt-sick
guilt feelings
guilt pang
guilt trip
guilt trips

Literary usage of Guillotine

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Irish Literature by Justin McCarthy, Maurice Francis Egan, Douglas Hyde, Charles Welsh, Gregory, James Jeffrey Roche (1904)
"THE guillotine IN FRANCE. From ' The History of the guillotine.' The guillotine remained in the Place de la Revolution till the eighth of June, 1794, ..."

2. Pye's Surgical Handicraft: A Manual of Surgical Manipulations, Minor Surgery by Walter Pye (1893)
"This was the old operation, and as such was strongly recommended by Syme, but now some form of guillotine is The guillotine. commonly used. ..."

3. Encyclopaedia Britannica, a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and edited by Hugh Chisholm (1910)
"There is still preserved in the antiquarian museum of Edinburgh the rude guillotine called the " maiden " by which the regent Morton was decapitated in 1581 ..."

4. Essays on the Early Period of the French Revolution by John Wilson Croker (1857)
"The summary vengeance of the lanterne in the earlier years—the systematised murders of the guillotine under the Convention—the arbitrary exile to ..."

5. Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature by H.W. Wilson Company (1909)
"guillotine. Origin of the guillotine. JM Hart. Nation. 88: 383. Ap. 15, '09. guillotine, Society of the; story. SW Mitchell. il. Cent. 78: 323-46. Jl. '09. ..."

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