guillotine
noun
guil·lo·tine
| \ ˈgi-lə-ˌtēn
; ˌgē-(y)ə-ˈtēn, ˈgē-(y)ə-ˌtēn
\
; ˌgē-(y)ə-ˈtēn, ˈgē-(y)ə-ˌtēn
\
Definition of guillotine
1
: 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
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Examples of guillotine in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine. — BostonGlobe.com, "This day in history," 28 July 2019 Jean-Claude and his men take hold of one another’s forearms to raise their voices together, lifting and darting like birds, then diving in a sudden decrescendo that ends the song by guillotine. — National Geographic, "In Corsica, on a quest for beautiful harmony," 24 July 2019 In this way Maigret is able to justify putting them in prison or sending them to the guillotine. — Vince Passaro, Harper's magazine, "Maigret All Day," 22 July 2019 Rockhold briefly looks for a guillotine choke but doesn’t get it. — Todd Martin, latimes.com, "UFC 239: Jon Jones defeats Thiago Santos; Nunes stops Holm," 6 July 2019 Insolvency and bankruptcy loomed over the organization like the blade of a guillotine. — oregonlive.com, "After a year of close calls, last-minute bailouts, Special Olympics of Oregon survives financial crisis," 7 July 2019 Ivanov attacks the neck with a guillotine but Tuivasa gets his head out. — Todd Martin, latimes.com, "UFC 238 live updates: Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes," 8 June 2019 In a new paper that appeared on the physics preprint site, arxiv.org, on Sunday, Loeb and two Harvard colleagues, Xingang Chen and Zhong-Zhi Xianyu, suggested such a guillotine. — Quanta Magazine, "A New Test for the Leading Big Bang Theory," 11 Sep. 2018 But that all comes to a head when the ball star walks in the French Revolution category in a truly stunning Marie Antoinette getup, complete with cakes, a carousel hoop-skirt and a guillotine. — Stephen Daw, Billboard, "Revolutions, Runways & Revenge: 5 Key Moments from the Season 2 Premiere of 'Pose'," 12 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guillotine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for guillotine
guillotine
noun
English Language Learners Definition of guillotine
: a machine with a heavy blade that was used in the past to cut off the heads of people who had been sentenced to death
See the full definition for guillotine in the English Language Learners Dictionary
guillotine
noun
guil·lo·tine
| \ ˈgi-lə-ˌtēn
\
\
Kids Definition of guillotine
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a machine for cutting off a person's head with a heavy blade that slides down two grooved posts
guillotine
verb
guillotined;
guillotining
Kids Definition of guillotine (Entry 2 of 2)
: to cut off a person's head with a guillotine
guillotine
noun
guil·lo·tine
| \ ˈgil-ə-ˌtēn
, ˈgē-ə-ˌtēn
\
, ˈgē-ə-ˌtēn
\
Medical Definition of guillotine
: a surgical instrument that consists of a ring and handle with a knife blade which slides down the handle and across the ring and that is used for cutting out a protruding structure (as a tonsil) capable of being placed in the ring
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