garrotte

[guh-rot, -roht]

noun, verb (used with object), gar·rot·ted, gar·rot·ting.

garrote.

Nearby words

Related formsgar·rot·ter, noun

garrote

or ga·rote, ga·rotte, gar·rotte

[guh-roht, -rot]

noun

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.

the collarlike instrument used for this method of execution.

strangulation or throttling, especially in the course of a robbery.

an instrument, usually a cord or wire with handles attached at the ends, used for strangling a victim.

verb (used with object), gar·rot·ed, gar·rot·ing.

to execute by the garrote.

to strangle or throttle, especially in the course of a robbery.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for garrotted

And so the new Cabinet Minister has been garrotted in the street.
Phineas Finn|Anthony Trollope
The indifference exhibited by the garrotted man getting up to adjust his chair is probably common amongst criminals of his type.
Tracks of a Rolling Stone|Henry J. Coke
For no purpose whatever we have garrotted the lawful heir to this Crown.
The Marquis D'Argenson: A Study in Criticism|Arthur Ogle
Yet, said his Spanish critics and enemies, he prepared his pupils to conspire and to be garrotted!
The History of Cuba, vol. 3|Willis Fletcher Johnson

There were nine relaxed in person and, as none of them are described as obstinate, it may be assumed that all were garrotted.
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 3|Henry Charles Lea

British Dictionary definitions for garrotted

garrotte

garrote or garotte

noun

a Spanish method of execution by strangulation or by breaking the neck

the device, usually an iron collar, used in such executions

obsolete strangulation of one's victim while committing robbery

verb (tr)

to execute by means of the garrotte

to strangle, esp in order to commit robbery

Derived Formsgarrotter, garroter or garotter, noun

Word Origin for garrotte

C17: from Spanish garrote, perhaps from Old French garrot cudgel; of obscure origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for garrotted

garrote

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]

garrote

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