a machine for beheading with consisting of a heavy blade that slides down between grooved posts
an instrument (e.g. a paper cutter) that works like a guillotine
limitation of the discussion of legislative business by the imposition of a time limit: compare closure1
French guillotine, named after Joseph Guillotin d.1814, French physician. Contrary to what some people have believed, Joseph Guillotin did not invent the guillotine; similar machines had been used in Scotland, Italy, and elsewhere for centuries before their use in the French revolution. He was, however, the leading advocate in the National Assembly of this method of execution; partly on humanitarian grounds, but more importantly on egalitarian grounds, since previously decapitation had been a privileged method of execution for nobles. The design of the guillotine is attributed to Antoine Louis, a French surgeon, and originally the machine was named after him Louison or Louisette. The name guillotine caught on, however, and was in use in English as early as 1793