guillotine
noun
guil·lo·tine
ˈgi-lə-ˌtēn 
ˌgē-(y)ə-ˈtēn
ˈgē-(y)ə-ˌtēn
ˌgē-(y)ə-ˈtēn
ˈgē-(y)ə-ˌtēn
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
guillotine
transitive verb
Examples of guillotine in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Since the president’s first days in office, science has been under the guillotine at every turn.
—
Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2025
On Saturday night, Brady dispatched former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards in the fourth round with a guillotine choke.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2025
For millennia, people in power have oppressed their subjects by exploiting the narrowness and fragility of the neck – a dark history of dominating and terrorizing one another using shackles, nooses and guillotines.
—Kent Dunlap, The Conversation, 10 Feb. 2025
When the owner of a silver carp by Fabergé, circa 1908, squeezes the bulging glass eyeballs, the guillotine mouth chomps the end of a cigar (Wartski, E13).
—Walker Mimms, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
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Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2025
On Saturday night, Brady dispatched former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards in the fourth round with a guillotine choke.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2025
For millennia, people in power have oppressed their subjects by exploiting the narrowness and fragility of the neck – a dark history of dominating and terrorizing one another using shackles, nooses and guillotines.
—Kent Dunlap, The Conversation, 10 Feb. 2025
When the owner of a silver carp by Fabergé, circa 1908, squeezes the bulging glass eyeballs, the guillotine mouth chomps the end of a cigar (Wartski, E13).
—Walker Mimms, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for guillotine
Cite this Entry
“Guillotine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guillotine. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
guillotine
noun
guil·lo·tine
ˈgil-ə-ˌtēn
ˌgē-(y)ə-ˈtēn
ˌgē-(y)ə-ˈtēn
ˈgē-(y)əˌ-tēn
: a machine for cutting off a person's head by means of a heavy blade sliding in two upright grooved posts
guillotine
verb
Etymology
named for Joseph Guillotin 1738–1814 French doctor and public official
Medical Definition
guillotine
noun
guil·lo·tine
ˈgil-ə-ˌtēn
ˈgē-ə-ˌtēn
ˈgē-ə-ˌtēn
: 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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