guillotine

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French guillotine, named after the French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), who proposed its use for capital punishment.

noun

1. (historical, also figurative) A machine used for the application of capital punishment by decapitation, consisting of a tall upright frame from which is suspended a heavy diagonal-edged blade which is dropped onto the neck of the person to be executed; also, execution using this machine.
2. (by extension)
   1. A device or machine with a cutting">cutting blade.
      1. A device used for cutting">cutting the pages of books, stacks of paper, etc., to straight edges, usually by means of a hinged or sliding blade attached to a flat platform.
      2. (surgery) An instrument with a sliding blade for cutting the tonsils, uvula, or other body parts.
   2. (law, politics, informal)
      1. (Britain) A parliamentary procedure for fixing the dates when various stages of discussion of a bill must end, to ensure that the enactment of the bill proceeds expeditiously.
         The right hon. Gentleman is making a great stooshie about time in relation to this Bill, but was it not the case that, when the SNP [Scottish National Party] Scottish Government introduced their continuity Bill in the Scottish Parliament, they operated a ruthless guillotine to prevent proper scrutiny of it? That is the case; they ran a guillotine on that Bill, and there was a very limited amount of time allowed for debate and scrutiny, yet he complains about that happening here. 22 October 2019, Stephen Kerr, Member of Parliament for Stirling, “Second Reading of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill”, in House of Commons Debates (House of Commons)Bill), volume 666, archived from the original on 2019-10-24, column 860
      2. (US) A legislative motion that debate be ended and a vote taken; a cloture.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French guillotiner (“to execute with a guillotine, to guillotine”), from guillotine (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

verb

1. To use a guillotine (on someone or something).
   1. (also figurative) To execute (someone) with a guillotine.
      Many counterrevolutionaries were guillotined during the French Revolution.
   2. To cut or trim (a body part, a stack of paper, etc.) with a guillotine.
2. (law, politics, informal)
   1. (Britain) To end discussion (about a parliamentary bill or part of one) by invoking a guillotine procedure.
   2. (US) To end (a legislative debate) by invoking cloture.