guillotine
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.
Other meanings
A device or machine with a cutting blade.
Example sentences
Word history
From French "guillotine".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “guillotine” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.