guillotine

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Consolidation now hangs over the film industry like a guillotine, with job losses likely and the future of the theatrical movie-going experience in question,” Lauzen wrote in her report.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2026

Though imprisoned after the fall of Robespierre in 1794, David escaped the guillotine and soon returned to his portrait practice and lucrative teaching studio.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025

The Sept. 1 protest had “little to no energy,” according to an internal Portland police summary, before federal officers dispersed the crowd to collect a prop guillotine that had been brought.

From Salon • Nov. 14, 2025

If, in 1793, you were going to visit the full-scale model of the guillotine exhibited at S. W. Fores’ Piccadilly print shop, you could hardly miss these merciless cartoons.

From Slate • Jul. 21, 2025

It was because the sound in that room was the same sound she’d heard in that dreadful glittering chamber at Bolvangar, where the silver guillotine had nearly parted her and Pantalaimon.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman