garroter


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gar·rote

or gar·rotte  (gə-rŏt′, -rōt′)
n.
1.
a. A method of execution formerly practiced in Spain, in which a tightened iron collar is used to strangle or break the neck of a condemned person.
b. The iron collar used for such an execution.
2.
a. Strangulation, especially in order to rob.
b. A cord or wire used for strangling.
tr.v. gar·rot·ed, gar·rot·ing, gar·rotes or gar·rot·ted or gar·rot·ting or gar·rottes
1. To execute by garrote.
2. To strangle in order to rob.

[Spanish, cudgel, instrument of torture, possibly from Old French garrot, perhaps from garoquier, to struggle.]

gar·rot′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.garroter - someone who kills by strangling
killer, slayer - someone who causes the death of a person or animal
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
He is a harmless enough fellow, Parker by name, a garroter by trade, and a remarkable performer upon the jew's-harp.
After Reiner explains the bolito's operation, the Counselor asks why no one actually sees the garroter escape after dropping the device over a victim's head: "Oh.
Also published were The Midge by Henry Cuyler Bunner, a graceful novelette by the poet-editor of Puck; Indian Summer, a romantic novel set in Florence, Tuscan Cities, a travel book, and The Garroters, a farcical play, all by William Dean Howells; Princess Casamassima, a novel by Henry James in which he uncovered the social ferment underlying the surface placidity of upper-class life in London; and Hugh Wynne by Silas Weir Mitchell, a noted Philadelphia physician and neurologist, partly a historical romance, partly a novel of psychology, first appearing as a serial in Century Magazine.