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Guillotine - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Guillotine : (noun)
1: closure imposed on the debate of specific sections of a bill
[syn: closure by compartment]
2: instrument of execution that consists of a weighted blade
between two vertical poles; used for beheading people
(verb)
1: kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; "The French
guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the
country"
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Guillotine : \Guil"lo*tine`\ (g[i^]l"l[-o]*t[=e]n`), n. [F., from
Guillotin, a French physician, who proposed, in the
Constituent Assembly of 1789, to abolish decapitation with
the ax or sword. The instrument was invented by Dr. Antoine
Louis, and was called at first Louison or Louisette.
Similar machines, however, were known earlier.]
1. A machine for beheading a person by one stroke of a heavy
ax or blade, which slides in vertical guides, is raised by
a cord, and let fall upon the neck of the victim.
2. Any machine or instrument for cutting or shearing,
resembling in its action a guillotine.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Guillotine : \Guil"lo*tine`\ (g[i^]l`l[-o]*t[=e]n"), v. t. [imp. &
p. p. Guillotined; p. pr. & vb. n. Guillotining.] [Cf. F.
guillotiner.]
To behead with the guillotine.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Guillotine : Guillotine: A machine used during (and after) the French Revolution for beheading people condemned to death, by means of a heavy sharp blade that slid down within vertical guides. By
extension, "guillotine" refers to any shearing machine or instrument (such as a paper cutter, a book trimmer, etc.) that is like a guillotine in its action.
The word "guillotine" is named for a French physician, Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814). Appalled by the cruel methods (such as torture) by which people were then executed, Dr. Guillotin argued
before the French National Assembly in 1789 that painless and private beheading by machine should become the standard means for capital punishment in a civilized society such as in France. (The good
doctor did not invent the machine; he merely advocated its use.)
The National Assembly endorsed Dr. Guillotin's proposal on March 20, 1792. But, much to the doctor's dismay, the guillotine came almost immediately into public use and great abuse. The use of the
guillotine was only abolished in France on October 9, 1981. The humanely-oriented Dr. Guillotin's name had long since become inextricably associated with the inhumane use of his machine.
A surgical instrument used to cut off the tonsils was called the guillotine.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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