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dry guillotine. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
dry guillotine, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
dry guillotine in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
As an alternative (and bloodless) punishment to the guillotine.
Pronunciation
Noun
dry guillotine (uncountable)
- (historical, slang) Forced deportation to a penal colony, especially as a punishment during the French Revolution.
1989, Ralph Gibson, A Social History of French Catholicism, Routledge, page 52:Nor could they forget the 200-odd priests massacred in the Paris prisons in September 1792, [...] or the 118 who never came back from the dry guillotine that was French Guiana.
2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 517:It disposed of political opponents mainly through the ‘dry guillotine’ of deportation rather than by physical liquidation.