Meaning & use
filibustering
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“filibustering” is a form of “filibuster”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
noununcountable
The tactic of making very long speeches in a legislature in order to delay or block a vote on a proposal.
Grammar: Used as a mass noun: you say 'filibustering blocked the bill', not 'a filibustering'.
Patterns
- filibustering by someone
- resort to filibustering
- a threat of filibustering
The bill died after three days of filibustering by the opposition.
Senators accused each other of using filibustering to avoid an embarrassing vote.
Reformers want to make filibustering harder by requiring a speaker to keep talking.
verbintransitive
Taking part in a long speech or series of speeches meant to delay a decision in a legislature.
Grammar: This is the -ing form of the verb 'filibuster'; it often follows 'be' or a verb such as 'keep' or 'start'.
Patterns
- be filibustering
- keep filibustering
- start filibustering
The minority is filibustering again to stall the nomination.
She kept filibustering for six hours without a break.
They were filibustering while their colleagues tried to negotiate a deal.
Word forms
| base form | filibuster |
|---|---|
| third person singular | filibusters |
| past tense | filibustered |
| past participle | filibustered |
| -ing form | filibustering |
Common combinations
- a filibustering tactic
- Blocking the vote was a filibustering tactic straight out of the old playbook.
- accuse someone of filibustering
- The chair accused the minority of filibustering to run out the clock.
- end filibustering
- Both parties promised to end filibustering on routine appointments.
- filibustering in the Senate
- Filibustering in the Senate has become a routine tool rather than a last resort.
- threaten filibustering
- Leaders on both sides threatened filibustering if the text was not changed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stonewalling
- This stresses refusing to cooperate or answer at all, while filibustering specifically uses long speeches to burn up time.
- delaying tactics
- A broader everyday phrase for any method of slowing something down; filibustering is the legislative speech-making version.
- obstruction
- A general term for blocking official business; it can cover many methods, not just endless speaking.
Opposites
Word family
- filibuster noun
- the long speech itself, or the person who gives it
- filibuster verb
- to use such speeches to delay a vote
- filibusterer noun
- a person who regularly filibusters
Commonly confused: filibustering or filibuster?
filibustering vs filibuster
'Filibuster' is the base form and can be a noun or a verb; 'filibustering' is only the -ing form, used as a verb part or as an uncountable noun.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'filibustering' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Was filibustering' is the past continuous of the verb, which fits the meaning of speaking at length to delay a vote. Option 2 wrongly treats it as a countable noun ('a filibustering'), option 3 has no auxiliary verb, and option 4 uses it as a personal noun, where English says 'a filibusterer' or 'a filibuster'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “filibustering”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.