What is "filibuster"

Filibuster \Fil"i*bus*ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fillibustered; p. pr. & vb. n. Filibustering.]

1. To act as a filibuster, or military freebooter.
   --Bartlett.

2. To delay legislation, by dilatory motions or other artifices. [political cant or slang, U.S.]
   --Bartlett.

Filibuster \Fil"i*bus`ter\, n. [Sp. flibuster, flibustero, corrupted fr. E. freebooter. See Freebooter.] A lawless military adventurer, especially one in quest of plunder; a freebooter; -- originally applied to buccaneers infesting the Spanish American coasts, but introduced into common English to designate the followers of Lopez in his expedition to Cuba in 1851, and those of Walker in his expedition to Nicaragua, in 1855.

1580s, flibutor "pirate," especially, in history, "West Indian buccaneer of the 17th century" (mainly French, Dutch, and English adventurers), probably ultimately from Dutch vrijbueter (now vrijbuiter) "freebooter," a word which was used of pirates in the West Indies in Spanish (filibustero) and French (flibustier, earlier fribustier) forms. See freebooter.\n

\nAccording to Century Dictionary, the spread of the word is owing to a Dutch work ("De Americaensche Zee-Roovers," 1678) "written by a bucaneer named John Oexmelin, otherwise Exquemelin or Esquemeling, and translated into French and Spanish, and subsequently into English (1684)." Spanish inserted the -i- in the first syllable; French is responsible for the -s-, inserted but not originally pronounced, "a common fact in 17th century F[rench], after the analogy of words in which an original s was retained in spelling, though it had become silent in pronunciation" [Century Dictionary].\n

\nIn American English, from 1851 in reference to lawless military adventurers from the U.S. who tried to overthrow Central American governments. The major expeditions were those of Narciso Lopez of New Orleans against Cuba (1850-51) and by William Walker of California against the Mexican state of Sonora (1853-54) and against Nicaragua (1855-58). \n\nFILIBUSTERING is a term lately imported from the Spanish, yet destined, it would seem, to occupy an important place in our vocabulary. In its etymological import it is nearly synonymous with piracy. It is commonly employed, however, to denote an idea peculiar to the modern progress, and which may be defined as the right and practice of private war, or the claim of individuals to engage in foreign hostilities aside from, and even in opposition to the government with which they are in political membership.

["Harper's New Monthly Magazine," January 1853]

1853 in the freebooting sense, from filibuster (n.). Legislative sense is from 1861. Related: Filibustered; filibustering.

n. 1 A freebooter, or mercenary soldier. 2 (context US politics English) 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 (context US politics English) A member of a legislative body causing such obstruction. vb. 1 To take part in a private military action in a foreign country. 2 (context US politics English) To use obstructionist tactics in a legislative body.

1. n. a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that he (or she) opposes [syn: filibusterer]

2. a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches

3. v. obstruct deliberately by delaying; of legislation

A filibuster (from EModE, c. 1580: flibutor, "pirate" ) is a parliamentary procedure where debate over a proposed piece of legislation is extended, allowing one or more members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on the proposal. It is sometimes referred to as "talking out a bill" or "talking a bill to death" and characterized as a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body.

A filibuster or freebooter, in the context of foreign policy, is someone who engages in an (at least nominally) unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country or territory to foment or support a revolution. The term is usually used to describe United States citizens who fomented insurrections in Latin America in the mid-19th century (Texas, California, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia), but is also applicable in the modern day. Filibuster expeditions have also occasionally been used as cover for government-approved deniable operations (see also False flag). A notable late 20th Century example of this would be the Argentinian 'scrap metal merchants' who landed on South Georgia at the outset of the Falklands War.

Filibusters are irregular soldiers who (normally) act without official authority from their own government, and are generally motivated by financial gain, political ideology, or the thrill of adventure. The freewheeling actions of the filibusters of the 1850s led to the name being applied figuratively to the political act of filibustering in the United States Congress.

Unlike a mercenary, a filibuster leader/commander works for himself, whilst a mercenary leader works for others.