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garote

[guh-roht, -rot]
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noun, verb (used with object), ga·rot·ed, ga·rot·ing.
  1. garrote.
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Related formsga·rot·er, noun

garrote

or ga·rote, ga·rotte, gar·rotte

[guh-roht, -rot]
noun
  1. a method of capital punishment of Spanish origin in which an iron collar is tightened around a condemned person's neck until death occurs by strangulation or by injury to the spinal column at the base of the brain.
  2. the collarlike instrument used for this method of execution.
  3. strangulation or throttling, especially in the course of a robbery.
  4. an instrument, usually a cord or wire with handles attached at the ends, used for strangling a victim.
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verb (used with object), gar·rot·ed, gar·rot·ing.
  1. to execute by the garrote.
  2. to strangle or throttle, especially in the course of a robbery.
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Origin of garrote

1615–25; < Spanish garrote or French garrot packing-stick < ?
Related formsgar·rot·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for garote

Historical Examples

  • Hence the bandits, who recognised in Garote one of themselves, did not at all distrust him.

    The Trapper's Daughter

    Gustave Aimard

  • Garote made no objection, and White Gazelle darted down the mountain side with feverish ardour.

  • Very shortly, a horse was heard galloping outside, and Garote put his head in at the door.

  • Garote fetched a jar of mezcal, which he placed before his terrible accomplice.

    The Trail-Hunter

    Gustave Aimard

  • I, who belong to one of the oldest and most powerful families in Spain, die by the garote!

    The Rebel Chief

    Gustave Aimard

Word Origin and History for garote

garrote

n.

also garrotte, 1620s, "Spanish method of capital punishment by strangulation," from Spanish garrote "stick for twisting cord," of unknown origin, perhaps from Old French guaroc "club, stick, rod, shaft of a crossbow," probably ultimately Celtic, but possibly from Frankish *wrokkan "to twist" (cf. Middle Dutch wroken "to twist").

I have no hesitation in pronouncing death by the garrot, at once the most manly, and the least offensive to the eye. [Major John Richardson, "British Legion," 1837]
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garrote

v.

"to execute with a garrote," 1851, from garrote (n.); sense of "choke and then rob" is from 1852. Related: Garotted; garotting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper