dry guillotine
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Forced deportation to a penal colony, especially as a punishment during the French Revolution.
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
Nor could they forget the 200-odd priests massacred in the Paris prisons in September 1792, [...] or the 118 who never came back from the dry guillotine that was French Guiana.
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “dry guillotine” mean?
Forced deportation to a penal colony, especially as a punishment during the French Revolution.
Is “dry guillotine” formal or informal?
dry guillotine is generally slang.