filibuster Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that he (or she) opposes
    filibusterer.
  2. noun (law) a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches
  3. verb obstruct deliberately by delaying

WordNet

Fil"i*bus`ter noun
Etymology
Sp. flibuster, flibustero, corrupted fr. E. freebooter. See Freebooter.
Definitions
  1. 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.
Fil"i*bus*ter intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Fillibustered ; present participle & verbal noun Filibustering
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913