• n. 斷頭臺；切紙機；截止辯論以付表決法
• vt. 于斷頭臺斬首；終止辯論將議案付諸表決

來自法國醫(yī)生Joseph Guillotin，他出于人道主義考慮，在1791年設計了一款高效的斷頭設備。不幸的是，他的名字被用于這種新型設備的名稱，為此，他無數(shù)次抗議，但已擋不住這個新名詞的流傳。

guillotine

guillotine: [18] Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738– 1814), a French doctor, did not invent the device named after him – such contraptions had been around for some time – but it was he who saw the advantages, in terms of speed and efficiency, of an easily resettable blade for beheading in a time of peak demand, and he recommended it to the Revolutionary authorities. The term used for it, first recorded in English in 1793, is a fitting memorial to him. Its application to the limitation of discussion in a legislature dates from the 1890s.

guillotine (n.)

"The name of the machine in which the axe descends in grooves from a considerable height so that the stroke is certain and the head instantly severed from the body." ["Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure," January 1793], 1791, from French guillotine, named in recognition of French physician Joseph Guillotin (1738-1814), who as deputy to the National Assembly (1789) proposed, for humanitarian and efficiency reasons, that capital punishment be carried out by beheading quickly and cleanly on a machine, which was built in 1791 and first used the next year. Similar devices were used in the Middle Ages. The verb is first attested 1794. Related: Guillotined; guillotining.

1. to guillotine a bill

限制議案的辯論時間

來自《權威詞典》

2. Not many French people are in favour of using the guillotine.

沒有多少法國人贊成使用斷頭臺.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

3. One after the other Danton, Robespierre and the rest went to the guillotine.

丹東、羅伯斯比爾以及其他人被逐一送上了斷頭臺。

來自柯林斯例句

4. But I wouldn't want to go to the guillotine.

但我不想去斷頭臺.

來自超越目標英語 第4冊

5. Six tumbrils carry the day's wine to La Guillotine.

六輛死囚車給斷頭臺小姐送去了那天的美酒.

來自英漢文學 - 雙城記