guillotine.
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 which is dropped onto the neck of the person to be executed; also, execution using this machine.
Meaning & usage
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 which is dropped onto the neck of the person to be executed; also, execution using this machine.
A device or machine with a cutting blade. A device used for cutting the pages of books, stacks of paper, etc., to straight edges, usually by means of a hinged or sliding blade attached to a flat platform.
A device or machine with a cutting blade. An instrument with a sliding blade for cutting the tonsils, uvula, or other body parts.
A parliamentary procedure for fixing the dates when various stages of discussion of a bill must end, to ensure that the enactment of the bill proceeds expeditiously.
A legislative motion that debate be ended and a vote taken; a cloture.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from French guillotine, named after the French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), who proposed its use for capital punishment.
To use a guillotine (on someone or something). To execute (someone) with a guillotine.
Many counterrevolutionaries were guillotined during the French Revolution.
To use a guillotine (on someone or something). To cut or trim (a body part, a stack of paper, etc.) with a guillotine.
To end discussion (about a parliamentary bill or part of one) by invoking a guillotine procedure.
To end (a legislative debate) by invoking cloture.
To end anything abruptly.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from French guillotiner (“to execute with a guillotine, to guillotine”), from guillotine (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.