guillotine

6 definitions • 3 examples

a device, invented in France, consisting of a sharp blade in a tall frame, used in the past for killing criminals by cutting off their heads:

go to the guillotine King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette went to the guillotine (= were killed by the guillotine) during the French Revolution.

a device with a long sharp blade that is used for cutting large quantities of paper

a limit on the amount of discussion allowed about a particular law in Parliament, made by setting a fixed time before a final vote must be taken

to cut someone's head off using a guillotine:

During the French Revolution, thousands of people were guillotined.

to set a fixed time before a final vote must be taken on a particular law in Parliament:

The bill was guillotined at the committee stage.

a device, invented in France, consisting of a sharp blade in a tall frame that was used for killing a person by cutting off his or her head