filibuster
Americannoun
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filibusters
plural
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U.S. Politics.
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the use of irregular or obstructive tactics by a member of a legislative assembly to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored or to force a decision against the will of the majority.
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an exceptionally long speech, as one lasting for a day or days, or a series of such speeches to accomplish this purpose.
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a member of a legislature who makes such a speech.
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an irregular military adventurer, especially one who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution.
verb (used without object)
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filibusters,
present (3rd person singular)
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filibustered,
past participle, past
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filibustering
present participle
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U.S. Politics. to impede legislation by irregular or obstructive tactics, especially by making long speeches.
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to act as an irregular military adventurer, especially for revolutionary purposes.
verb (used with object)
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filibusters,
present (3rd person singular)
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filibustered,
past participle, past
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filibustering
present participle
noun
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the process or an instance of obstructing legislation by means of long speeches and other delaying tactics
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Also called: filibusterer. a legislator who engages in such obstruction
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a buccaneer, freebooter, or irregular military adventurer, esp a revolutionary in a foreign country
verb
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to obstruct (legislation) with delaying tactics
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(intr) to engage in unlawful and private military action
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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filibustersimple
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filibusterssimple
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have filibusteredperfect
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has filibusteredperfect
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am filibusteringprogressive
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are filibusteringprogressive
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is filibusteringprogressive
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have been filibusteringperfect progressive
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has been filibusteringperfect progressive
Past
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filibusteredsimple
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had filibusteredperfect
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was filibusteringprogressive
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were filibusteringprogressive
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had been filibusteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of filibuster
First recorded in 1580–90; from Spanish filibustero, from Middle French flibustier, variant of fribustier; see freebooter
Explanation
As a verb, filibuster means "to obstruct legislation by talking at great length." As a noun, it can refer to that oppositional speech. "The Senator prevented a vote on the bill by reading the dictionary from aardvark to zyzzyva." As a parliamentary tactic, the filibuster dates back to at least the first century B.C.E. The rules of the Roman Senate required that all business must be completed by nightfall, and, on more than one occasion, the senator Cato the Younger spoke until dark to delay a vote. In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, a minister may "talk out" a bill, but his speech must pertain to the bill. In the United States, by contrast, a Senator may forestall action on a bill by speaking on any topic.
Vocabulary lists containing filibuster
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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.
See Examples For:
In 1964 opponents of the Civil Rights Act attempted to stop the legislation with a filibuster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Cloture, which is what we usually mean when we talk about the filibuster today, came much later in the Senate’s history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested Congress could enact the idea through reconciliation, a process lawmakers used to pass a tax and spending law last year and avoid the filibuster.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
So it’s a bit like a filibuster, except she’s just sitting in an empty room.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2025
There was even a type of speech called the filibuster, whose sole purpose was to waste time.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
The 60-year-old lawyer has pledged to protect "natural wealth" from "21st-century filibusters who want to privatise everything" if she wins.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
Justice John Paul Stevens pressed Bopp on whether the ads were genuinely intended to influence Sen. Feingold’s stance on filibusters.
From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2025
Together they ruminate about the good old days of L.A. when they’re not storming city council meetings with dramatic filibusters about bus schedules.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2024
The bill must get 33 votes Thursday and again in a later third round of debate to overcome filibusters and pass.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 13, 2023
He was more clever than the rank and file of the Spanish agents, and by associating himself with the filibusters, he was able to learn their plans.
From The History of Cuba, vol. 3 by Willis Fletcher Johnson
Normally senators are assigned to committees by unanimous consent, but that motion can be filibustered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2023
Three times, the women in the Senate and three Republican male colleagues successfully filibustered.
From New York Times ● May 23, 2023
The defeat drew national headines in no small part because of how it went down: The only five women in the Senate, three of whom are Republicans, filibustered the bill into oblivion.
From Salon ● May 8, 2023
Nebraska’s filibuster rules are less severe than in other states, some of which forbid lawmakers from sitting, taking a bathroom break or speaking on anything other than bill being filibustered.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 28, 2023
Indemnity, Stevens's bill of passes House, 198; combined with habeas corpus bill, 199; debated, filibustered against, and passed, 200-203.
From The Life of Lyman Trumbull by Horace White
Leadbeater has said the majority of peers back her proposals but that a small group of opponents were trying to talk the bill out, also known as filibustering.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
He literally makes no sense half the time and the rest of the time he's filibustering, lying, bullying and deflecting.
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2024
Ms. Willis’s filibustering whirlwind subsided as she waved a hand in exasperation.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
The filibustering, formally one of the Dodgers’ allotted five mound visits for the game, proved effective.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
"My kid," Hambro said, "filibustering against going to bed. A real sea lawyer, that kid."
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
