FILIBUSTER

Filibuster

A filibuster is a parliamentary procedure where debate is extended, allowing one or more members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal. It is sometimes referred to as talking out a bill, and characterized as a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body. The English term "filibuster" is derived from the Spanish filibustero, itself deriving originally from the Dutch vrijbuiter, "privateer, pirate, robber" . The Spanish form entered the English language in the 1850s, as applied to military adventurers from the United States then operating in Central America and the ...

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filibuster

Noun

  1. A freebooter, or mercenary soldier.
    1890 These duties involved prodigious physical and mental exertion, in a climate deadly to Europeans. They also involved much voyaging in waters haunted by filibusters and buccaneers. But nothing appears to daunt Labat. As for the filibusters, he becomes their comrade and personal friend; – he even becomes their chaplain, and does not scruple to make excursions with them. — Lafcadio Hearn, Two Years in the French West Indies.
  2. A delaying tactic, especially the use of long, often irrelevant speeches given in order to delay progress or the making of a decision, especially on the floor of the US Senate.
  3. A member of a legislative body causing such obstruction.

Verb

  1. To take part in a private military action in a foreign country.
  2. To use obstructionist tactics in a legislative body.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: filibuster
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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