Definition

1. Noun:

   • An execution device: A machine consisting of a heavy, angled blade suspended between two tall upright posts, designed to behead a person by dropping the blade swiftly.
   • A legislative procedure: A method used in some parliamentary systems to limit the time spent debating a bill or sections of a bill, forcing a vote.

2. Verb:

   • To execute by beheading: To put someone to death using a guillotine.
   • To end debate by a set rule: To apply a guillotine procedure to a legislative debate.

Examples

• Noun:

  • The guillotine was used extensively during the French Revolution.
  • The government imposed a guillotine on the debate to ensure the bill passed before the deadline.

• Verb:

  • During the Reign of Terror, the revolutionaries guillotined thousands.
  • The committee chairman decided to guillotine the discussion on the amendment.

Advanced Usage

• "to face the guillotine": to be executed by beheading or, metaphorically, to face a decisive and often negative conclusion.

  • The corrupt official finally faced the guillotine of public opinion.

• "a guillotine motion": In parliamentary contexts, a formal proposal to end debate on a bill.

  • The minister proposed a guillotine motion to pass the budget.

Variants and Related Words

• Guillotining (gerund/noun): The act of executing with a guillotine or applying the legislative procedure.
  • The guillotining of the king was a pivotal moment.

Synonyms

• Behead (verb): To cut off someone's head.
• Decapitate (verb): To cut off the head of.
• Closure (noun, in legislative context): A procedure for ending debate and taking a vote.

Related Phrases

• "under the guillotine": Subject to the legislative time limit.
  • Several important clauses passed under the guillotine with little discussion.

Idioms

• "The fall of the guillotine": Often used metaphorically to signify a sudden, decisive, and severe end.
  • The scandal brought about the fall of the guillotine on his political career.

Noun

1. instrument of execution that consists of a weighted blade between two vertical poles; used for beheading people
2. closure imposed on the debate of specific sections of a bill

Verb

1. kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine
   • The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country