: a machine for beheading by means of a heavy blade that slides down in vertical guides
2
: a shearing machine or instrument (such as a paper cutter) that in action resembles a guillotine
The paper was trimmed on a guillotine.
3
chiefly British: closure by the imposition of a predetermined time limit on the consideration of specific sections of a bill or portions of other legislative business
guillotinetransitive verb
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebWhile many pet owners default to the guillotine style nail clippers or human nail clippers, Emery recommends the ones that look like scissors. Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 6 July 2022 This time, the Green dropped the guillotine clean on the Heat via a hellacious 24-2 run that stopped cold-shooting Miami cold, seizing control of this series with a 3-2 lead. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2022 But the door did little to muffle the clanging of workers chiseling granite and the boom of the guillotine.New York Times, 3 Mar. 2022 Some kings were executed: Charles I of England lost his head to an ax and Louis XVI to the guillotine. Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2022 Suser used his wrestling background to take Glossner to the ground and lock in a guillotine choke for the win 1:37 into the first round. Kevin Richardson, Baltimore Sun, 27 Mar. 2022 The capital markets have rewarded Musk richly for all of that; Twitter, home of the guillotine meme, has not — or at least not uniformly.New York Times, 26 Apr. 2022 His grandparents, an aunt and uncle, and his great-grandfather were beheaded in 1794, and Tocqueville’s parents, who had awaited the guillotine in the same prison, survived only because Robespierre fell and the executions stopped. Jedediah Britton-purdy, The New Republic, 22 Apr. 2022 The play’s razor-sharp edge is all the more cutting for being polished with easy wit, like tickling a captive before releasing the guillotine. Naveen Kumar, Variety, 17 Apr. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
French, from Joseph Guillotin †1814 French physician