filibuster
n.n. a long speech or series of speeches in a parliament to delay a vote or stop a law from passing. It is a way to use time to influence a decision.
n. a procedural tactic used in legislative bodies to delay or prevent a vote on a bill by speaking for an extended period. Often used to block legislation that the minority party opposes.
The senator used a filibuster to stop the new tax law.
The minority party launched a last-minute filibuster to force the government to reconsider the proposed budget cuts.
While the tradition of the filibuster is seen by some as a vital check on majority power, others argue it has become a tool for obstruction that paralyzes the legislative process.
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.