dry guillotine

English

Etymology

As an alternative (and bloodless) punishment to the guillotine.

Pronunciation

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Noun

dry guillotine (uncountable)

1. (historical, slang) Forced deportation to a penal colony, especially as a punishment during the French Revolution.
   • 1989, Ralph Gibson, A Social History of French Catholicism, Routledge, page 52:

     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.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 517:

     It disposed of political opponents mainly through the ‘dry guillotine’ of deportation rather than by physical liquidation.