cloture · noun — in legislative assemblies that permit unlimited debate (that is, a filibuster): a motion, procedure or rule by which debate is ended so that a vote may be taken on the matter. For example, in the United States Senate, a three-fifths majority vote of the body is required to invoke cloture and terminate debate. It carries an Arena rating of 1291, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cloture ranks #342 of 17,157 for Most Exacting Words, #1,082 of 17,152 for Most Incisive Words, #2,440 of 17,135 for Most Elegant Words, #2,735 of 17,153 for Most Ingenious Words.
cloture is pronounced /ˈkloʊ.t͡ʃɝ/.
Why “cloture” is a great word
CLOTURE — [Noun] A legislative procedure to end debate on a pending question and force an immediate vote, most famously employed to break a filibuster. From French clôture ("closure"), from Vulgar Latin *clōstūra, an alteration of Latin claustra ("bar, bolt, enclosure"). First attested in English in 1871. Unlike "closure" (a general term for any conclusion) or "adjournment" (a suspension of proceedings to a future time), cloture is the specific, procedural guillotine that falls upon discourse. It is the sharp rap of the gavel cutting through a marathon speech, the finality of a timekeeper's bell, the collective drawing of breath before a fateful tally—the necessary, brutal machinery of democracy imposing decision upon endless deliberation.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Borrowed from French clôture (“closure”). Doublet of closure and clausure.
noun
- In legislative assemblies that permit unlimited debate (that is, a filibuster): a motion, procedure or rule by which debate is ended so that a vote may be taken on the matter. For example, in the United States Senate, a three-fifths majority vote of the body is required to invoke cloture and terminate debate.
verb
- To end legislative debate by this means.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- clausure 48% match — The act of shutting up or confining; confinement. vs cloture →
- close 46% match — To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.; To move a thing, or part of a thing, nearer to another so that the gap or opening between the two is removed. vs cloture →
- prorogue 45% match — To suspend (a parliamentary session) or to discontinue the meetings of (an assembly, parliament etc.) without formally ending the session. vs cloture →
- closing 45% match — The act by which something is closed. vs cloture →
- clot 45% match — A thrombus, solidified mass of blood. vs cloture →
- parclose 44% match — A partition that closes off part of a building; especially one that separates an altar or chapel from the rest of a church. vs cloture →
- clotting 44% match — Clotted material. vs cloture →
- clotter 44% match — A clot; a mass of clotted blood. vs cloture →