guillotine

noun

guil·​lo·​tine ˈgi-lə-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

Word History

Etymology

French, from Joseph Guillotin †1814 French physician

First Known Use

1790, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for guillotine

• acrolein
• adenine
• alkylene
• aniline
• anthracene
• aquiline
• asphaltene
• atlantean
• atrazine
• butadiene
• butylene
• caesarean

Kids Definition

guillotine

noun

guil·​lo·​tine ˈgil-ə-ˌtēn  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 

: 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