1. plural of guillotine; machines with a heavy blade that drops to cut off the head of a condemned person, historically used for executions
Usage: historical; often capitalized when referring to the French Revolution device
2. plural of guillotine; any machine or device with a heavy blade that descends to cut material
Usage: used in printing, metalworking, and other industries

1. third-person singular present tense of guillotine; to execute by guillotine, or to cut with a guillotine-like device
Usage: historical or technical

Examples

• During the French Revolution, thousands of people were executed by guillotines.
• The printing shop uses industrial guillotines to trim paper to exact sizes.
• The machine guillotines the metal sheets with precision.
• Modern paper guillotines are much safer than their historical counterparts.
• The factory installed new guillotines to increase production efficiency.
• He carefully positioned the material before the guillotine descended.