Cloture
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 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. US, countable, uncountable
"Now, a filibuster typically begins when a Senator or group of Senators signals their intent to filibuster – which can be done by a private conversation with the majority leader or by quietly placing a bill or nomination on hold. Given the modern Senate's scarce floor time, this threat is usually enough to table the disputed issue until the dissenting Senators cave or until there are definitely enough votes to invoke cloture."
- 2 a rule for limiting or ending debate in a deliberative body wordnet
- 1 To end legislative debate by this means.
- 2 terminate debate by calling for a vote wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Now, a filibuster typically begins when a Senator or group of Senators signals their intent to filibuster – which can be done by a private conversation with the majority leader or by quietly placing a bill or nomination on hold. Given the modern Senate's scarce floor time, this threat is usually enough to table the disputed issue until the dissenting Senators cave or until there are definitely enough votes to invoke cloture."
Etymology
Borrowed from French clôture (“closure”). Doublet of closure and clausure.
More for "cloture"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.