050412 - WotD: cloture

cloture

From the 2nd April 2005 issue of the Economist, Don't go nuclear, page 14, discussing the Republican threat of changing the Senate's filibuster rules (in particular, to "go nuclear" and remove them).

"The only sure way to stop a filibuster is a vote of "cloture", suspending debate, which requires the support of 60 of the Senate's 100 members."

In this particular case, the author has partially defined the word, "suspending debate."

From the Merriam Webster online dictionary,

the closing or limitation of debate in a legislative body especially by calling for a vote