guillotine

[ gil-uh-teen, gee-uh-; verb gil-uh-teen, gee-uh- ]

noun

1. a device for beheading a person by means of a heavy blade that is dropped between two posts serving as guides: widely used during the French Revolution.
2. an instrument for surgically removing the tonsils.
3. any of various machines in which a vertical blade between two parallel uprights descends to cut or trim metal, stacks of paper, etc.

verb (used with object)

, guil·lo·tined, guil·lo·tin·ing.

1. to behead by the guillotine.
2. to cut with or as if with a guillotine.

guillotine

noun

1. 1. a device for beheading persons, consisting of a weighted blade set between two upright posts
   2. execution by this instrument
2. a device for cutting or trimming sheet material, such as paper or sheet metal, consisting of a blade inclined at a small angle that descends onto the sheet
3. a surgical instrument for removing tonsils, growths in the throat, etc
4. Also calledclosure by compartment (in Parliament, etc) a form of closure under which a bill is divided into compartments, groups of which must be completely dealt with each day

verb

1. to behead (a person) by guillotine
2. (in Parliament, etc) to limit debate on (a bill, motion, etc) by the guillotine

guillotine

1. A machine designed for beheading people quickly and with minimal pain. The guillotine, which used a large falling knife blade, was devised by a physician, Joseph Guillotin, during the French Revolution and was used as the official method of execution in France until the twentieth century.

Derived Forms

• ˌguilloˈtiner, noun

Other Words From

• un·guillo·tined adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of guillotine¹

1785–95; named after J. I. Guillotin (1738–1814), French physician who urged its use

Word History and Origins

Origin of guillotine¹

C18: from French, named after Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), French physician, who advocated its use in 1789

Example Sentences

She was guillotined in 1793 at the age of 37, along with her husband, at the height of the French Revolution.

From BBC

The last queen of France was guillotined in 1793 at the age of 37, along with her husband at the height of the French Revolution.

From BBC

After drying during a series of slow corkscrews, the new magazine’s edges were chopped smooth by guillotines and emerged through an opening.

From New York Times

Dubray’s mediocre statue had already been beheaded three decades ago — a symbolic decapitation that couldn’t help but recall Marie-Antoinette’s actual fate at the guillotine.

From Los Angeles Times

Light as air and as French as the guillotine.

From BBC