filibuster

1 of 2

noun

fil·​i·​bus·​ter ˈfi-lə-ˌbə-stər 

1

: an irregular military adventurer

specifically : an American engaged in fomenting insurrections in Latin America in the mid-19th century

2

[filibuster entry 2]

a

: the use of extreme dilatory (see dilatory sense 1) tactics (as by making long speeches) in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly

b

: an instance of this practice

The filibuster delayed the voting on the bill for over a week.

filibuster

2 of 2

verb

filibustered; filibustering ˈfi-lə-ˌbə-st(ə-)riŋ 

intransitive verb

1

: to carry out insurrectionist activities in a foreign country

2

: to engage in a filibuster

transitive verb

: to subject to a filibuster

filibusterer

ˈfi-lə-ˌbə-stər-ər 

noun

Examples of filibuster in a Sentence

Noun

They engaged in a filibuster that lasted for over a week.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Unlike votes that blocked D.C. legislation last year, this stand-alone federal bill would be subject to the Senate filibuster, requiring support from 60 senators to advance. —Meagan Flynn, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024

The bill garnered the 33 votes needed Tuesday to end a filibuster and advance to the second of three rounds of debate in Nebraska’s unique one-chamber legislature. —Margery A. Beck, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024

Passing such legislation would require winning 60 votes in the Senate or ending the filibuster, both of which currently seem unlikely. —Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024

Both remained opposed to changing the filibuster rule to allow a bill on voting rights to proceed. —Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024

Any changes enacted in the Missouri House would send the legislation back to the Senate for further debate, almost certainly prompting a Democratic filibuster. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Feb. 2024

The legislation advanced to the U.S. Senate but does not have enough support to survive in case of a filibuster. —Tom Krisher, arkansasonline.com, 25 Jan. 2024

The tradition of the filibuster does not explicitly appear in the Constitution, which left it up to the chambers of Congress to determine their rules. —The Editors, National Review, 6 Mar. 2024

Republican senators thwarted her bill by using the legislative filibuster that Sinema long defended over the complaints of her Democratic supporters. —Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024

Verb

Senate Democrats spent 11 hours filibustering the legislation, arguing that Republicans were targeting the wide array of health care services provided by Planned Parenthood for patients on Medicaid. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2024

The grandfather clause and the expiration date in the gender-affirming care ban were viewed as concessions to Democrats, who had spent hours filibustering against the bill. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024

Republican control of the House and the GOP’s ability to filibuster in the Senate mean these ideas have virtually no chance of passing Congress this year. —Jeff Stein, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024

In the days since Smirnov’s arrest on charges of lying to the government, House G.O.P. leaders have deflected, filibustered, and otherwise obfuscated about the whole affair. —Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2024

Harding also backed an anti-lynching law that southern Democrats filibustered in the Senate. —Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 6 Feb. 2024

Both the sunset clause and the expiration date were concessions to Democrats, who spent hours filibustering the bill last year. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 18 Jan. 2024

As long as Republicans can filibuster such mid-session committee membership changes, the Democrats are stymied. —Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 27 Apr. 2023

Normally senators are assigned to committees by unanimous consent, but that motion can be filibustered. —Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Spanish filibustero, literally, freebooter

First Known Use

Noun

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1851, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Phrases Containing filibuster

• anti-filibuster

Kids Definition

filibuster

1 of 2 noun

fil·​i·​bus·​ter ˈfil-ə-ˌbəs-tər 

: the use of delaying tactics (as long speeches) to put off or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly

also : an instance of this practice

filibuster

2 of 2 verb

filibustered; filibustering

-t(ə-)riŋ

: to engage in a filibuster

filibusterer

-tər-ər 

noun

Etymology

Noun

from Spanish filibustero, literally, "freebooter," probably derived from English freebooter

Word Origin

One Dutch word has given us two different English words. The Dutch word vrijbuiter referred to a pirate or plunderer. The English borrowed this word in the 16th century, translating it as freebooter. The word was later picked up by the Spanish, who kept the same meaning but altered it to filibustero. Both words stayed in the realm of history until the middle of the 19th century. Then soldiers of fortune went out from the U.S. to try to cause uprisings in Central American countries. The governments there accused these Americans of wanting personal gain more than justice and called them filibusteros. English-speaking journalists wrote this word as filibuster, making it sound more like an English word. Later in the 19th century, members of Congress who delayed passage of laws by means such as long speeches were compared to the adventurers of Central America, who were trying to overthrow legitimate rule. Filibuster then came to mean "the use of delaying tactics to put off or prevent the passage of laws."

Legal Definition

filibuster

1 of 2 noun

fil·​i·​bus·​ter ˈfi-lə-ˌbəs-tər 

: the use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly

also : an instance of this practice

filibuster

2 of 2 verb

filibustered; filibustering

intransitive verb

: to engage in a filibuster

transitive verb

: to subject to a filibuster