filibuster
Meanings
Plural: filibusters
Noun
- a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that he (or she) opposes
- (law) a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches
- 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.
- 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.
- A member of a legislative body causing such an obstruction.
Verb
- obstruct deliberately by delaying
- To take part in a private military action in a foreign country.
- To use obstructionist tactics in a legislative body.
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed 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.
Synonyms
adventurer, bravo, condottiere, filibuster, filibusterer, free companion, freebooter, freelance, hired gun, hireling, hit man, merc, mercenary, private military contractor, sellsword, soldier of fortune
Antonyms
Scrabble Score: 15
filibuster is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordfilibuster is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
filibuster is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary