Defenestration definition

dē-fĕnĭ-strāshən
An act of throwing someone or something out of a window.
noun
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A throwing out through a window.
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The act of throwing something, or someone, out of a window.
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(neologism, humorous) The act of removing the Microsoft Windows operating system from a computer in order to install an alternative one.
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(UK) High profile removal of a person from an organization.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
defenestration
Plural:
defenestrations

Origin of defenestration

  • From de– Latin fenestra window

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • First attested circa 17th century, from Latin dē (“from, out”) + fenestra (“window”), historically, it was used as an act of political dissent, notably the Defenestrations of Prague.

    From Wiktionary

Defenestration Sentence Examples

  • Finally these two councillors, together with Fabricius, secretary of the royal council, were thrown from the windows of the Hradcany into the moat below - an event known in history as the Defenestration of Prague.

  • I'd have to watch for defenestration of myself during the deadly duel, however.

  • This stands on the site where, in 1618, the Protestants attempted to build a church, the forcible prevention of which by Abbot Wolfgang Solander was the immediate cause of the protest of the Bohemian estates and the "defenestration" of the ministers Martinic and Slavata, which opened the Thirty Years' War.

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Words near defenestration in the Dictionary