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garrotte

[guh-rot, -roht]
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noun, verb (used with object), gar·rot·ted, gar·rot·ting.
  1. garrote.
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Related formsgar·rot·ter, 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 garrotted

Historical Examples

  • So he's to be garrotted the day after to-morrow, without fail.

    Carmen

    Prosper Merimee

  • For no purpose whatever we have garrotted the lawful heir to this Crown.

  • Next there is a record of one hundred and ninety-one men who had been garrotted.

    The History of Cuba, vol. 3

    Willis Fletcher Johnson

  • "I have been garrotted," said the Cabinet Minister to his wife.

    Phineas Finn

    Anthony Trollope

  • And so the new Cabinet Minister has been garrotted in the street.

    Phineas Finn

    Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for garrotted

garrotte

garrote or garotte

noun
  1. a Spanish method of execution by strangulation or by breaking the neck
  2. the device, usually an iron collar, used in such executions
  3. obsolete strangulation of one's victim while committing robbery
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verb (tr)
  1. to execute by means of the garrotte
  2. to strangle, esp in order to commit robbery
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Derived Formsgarrotter, garroter or garotter, noun

Word Origin

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

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