filibuster
A mercenary soldier; a freebooter; specifically, a mercenary who travelled illegally…A mercenary soldier; a freebooter; specifically, a mercenary who travelled illegally in an organized group from the United States to a country in Central America or the Spanish West Indies in the mid-19th century seeking economic and political benefits through armed force.
» They are filibustering to prevent the bill from passing.
Meaning
3 senses(historical)A mercenary soldier; a freebooter; specifically, a mercenary who travelled illegally in an organized group from the United States to a country in Central America or the Spanish West Indies in the mid-19th century seeking economic and political benefits through armed force.
Freibeuter
флибустье́рflibustʹjér, пира́тpirát, наёмникnajómnik
(US)A tactic (such as giving long, often irrelevant speeches) employed to delay the proceedings of, or the making of a decision by, a legislative body, particularly the United States Senate.
Dauerrede, Ermüdungsrede, Filibuster
(law) a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches
(US)A member of a legislative body causing such an obstruction.
Dauerredner
Examples
3 sentencesThey are filibustering to prevent the bill from passing.
Furthermore, I believe that the filibuster must be destroyed.
I think filibusters are misused, and in an ideal world, we shouldn't have to resort to it.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 3
Origin
Borrowed from Spanish filibustero (“pirate”), from French flibustier, ultimately from DutcBorrowed from Spanish filibustero (“pirate”), from French flibustier, ultimately from Dutch vrijbuiter (“freebooter”), from vrij (“free”) + buit (“booty”) + -er (“agent”). The alteration in the first syllable in French is due to the word's being somewhat conflated with vlieboot (“light, flat-bottomed cargo vessel with two or three masts”) when it was borrowed into French or another language from Dutch. The word is cognate and analogous to English freebooter.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: filibustersSynonyms
16 synonyms- a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that they oppose:filibusterer