noun

guillotine

GIH-luh-teen

noun

A device with a tall frame and a heavy angled blade, historically used to carry out executions by beheading.

"Thousands were executed by guillotine during the French Revolution."

A cutting tool or machine with a hinged or sliding blade, used to trim paper or other flat materials.

"The print shop used a guillotine to cut the stack of flyers to size."

A parliamentary procedure that sets a firm deadline for ending debate on a bill.

"The government applied the guillotine to force a vote before midnight."

verb

To execute someone using a guillotine, or to cut something with one.

"The paper was guillotined into neat, equal sheets."

How to Use Guillotine

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe beheading device from the French Revolution, or by extension any blade-cutting tool or a hard cutoff on debate.

Common pairings

send to the guillotine paper guillotine apply the guillotine

guillotined past tense, guillotines plural, guillotines singular

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Thousands were executed by _____ during the French Revolution.

Named after the French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, who proposed its use for executions in the late 18th century.

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