defenestration

[ dee-fen-uh-strey-shuhn ]

noun
  1. the act of throwing a person or thing out of a window: The defenestration of the Catholic commissioners in Prague precipitated the Thirty Years’ War.

  2. the act of suddenly removing someone from an important position or office: When the new corporate board was voted in, there was a massive defenestration of high-level executives.

Origin of defenestration

1
First recorded in 1610–20; de- + Latin fenestr(a) “window” + -ation

Words Nearby defenestration

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How to use defenestration in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for defenestration

defenestration

/ (diːˌfɛnɪˈstreɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the act of throwing someone out of a window

Origin of defenestration

1
C17: from New Latin dēfenestrātiō, from Latin de- + fenestra window

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012