guillotine
verb · noun
Simple meaning
A device or machine with a cutting blade.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
giluhteenSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɪlətin
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
To use a guillotine (on someone or something).
Kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine
“The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country.”
To cut or trim (a body part, a stack of paper, etc.) with a guillotine.
also figuratively
To execute (someone) with a guillotine.
noun
by extension
A device or machine with a cutting blade.
by extension
A device used for 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.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To cut or trim (a body part, a stack of paper, etc.) with a guillotine.
Used this way, guillotine is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use guillotine
- “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.