Crossword clues for garrote
garrote
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Garrote \Gar*rote"\, n. [Sp. garrote, from garra claw, talon, of Celtic origin; cf. Armor. & W. gar leg, ham, shank. Cf. Garrot stick, Garter.] A Spanish mode of execution by strangulation, with an iron collar affixed to a post and tightened by a screw until life become extinct.
2. The instrument by means of which the garrote[1] is inflicted.
Syn: garrote, garotte, iron collar.
3. Hence: A short length of rope or other instrument used to strangle a person.
Garrote \Gar*rote"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Garroted; p. pr. & vb. n. Garroting.] To strangle with the garrote; hence, to seize by the throat, from behind, with a view to strangle and rob.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"to execute with a garrote," 1851, from garrote (n.); sense of "choke and then rob" is from 1852. Related: Garotted; garotting.
also garrotte, 1620s, "Spanish method of capital punishment by strangulation," from Spanish garrote "stick for twisting cord," of unknown origin, perhaps from Old French guaroc "club, stick, rod, shaft of a crossbow," probably ultimately Celtic, but possibly from Frankish *wrokkan "to twist" (cognate with Middle Dutch wroken "to twist"). \nI have no hesitation in pronouncing death by the garrot, at once the most manly, and the least offensive to the eye.
[Major John Richardson, "British Legion," 1837]
Wiktionary
n. 1 an iron collar formerly used in Spain to execute people by strangulation 2 something, especially a cord or wire, used for strangulation vb. 1 (context transitive English) to execute by strangulation 2 (context transitive English) to kill using a garrote
WordNet
n. an instrument of execution for execution by strangulation [syn: garotte, garrotte, iron collar]
Wikipedia
A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and garrotte including "garrot") is a weapon, most often referring to a handheld ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle a person.
Usage examples of "garrote".
Tom slipped the garrote from his pocket, disposed of the man without trouble, took his keys, and manhandled the limp body into the bottom cabinet of a built-in china hutch where nobody was likely to look.
Saltwood took the garrote from his pocket and silently unwound it, wrapping the handles tight in his hands.
Professor Sligo stood next to the door, green with shock except for the livid red bruise of the garrote across his throat.
The bruise of the garrote was still purple-red and angry under the clipped line of his beard.
He sat and watched Raif from the far side of the fire, his fingers rubbing the garrote scar that circled his throat.
He paused on the sill to take out the garrote he planned to use on us, and then stepped inside.
I could feel no pulse at the throat of the fourth, and thought he was already dead, but just to be sure I used the garrote, tightening it around his neck and holding it while I counted the minutes away under my breath.
I told her, not wanting her to find the weapons, and when she left I jumped up, got dressed, and hid the grapples and the garrote in the false bottom of the traveling chest where Kenji had packed them.
I heard someone lean out above me, heard the slightest gasp, the thud of feet kicking helplessly against the garrote, then silence.
I took the garrote and killed him with that, while Kenji held him and Shizuka watched.
The nightgown garrote had been tightened so cruelly that it had left deep grooves in her flesh.
At his execution by the garrote he refused religious rites and maintained an unbroken sangfroid.
Dawn saw the woven-steel garrote that was about to come looping down around her neck.
A scar-faced man wearing the dull gray-and-red of a Lab 33 guard saw her and immediately reached for the garrote clipped to his belt.
Of course, the Good Samaritan had dropped his garrote down a storm drain by the time the police arrived.