defenestration

Noun

defenestration (countable and uncountable, plural defenestrations)

1. The act of throwing something or especially someone out of a window, especially lethally.
   • The "Defenestration" at Prague (A.D. 1618). [...] The imperial Austrian Councillors are thrown out of the window of the castle of Hradschin by the enraged Bohemian Deputies [...]1905, Rossiter Johnson, editor, The Great Events by Famous Historians; a Comprehensive and Readable Account of the World’s History, […], volumes XI (A.D. 1609–1660), New York, N.Y.: National Alumni...
   • The brook in the gully behind the garden, a trembling trickle most of the time, was tonight a loud torrent that tumbled over itself in its avid truckling to gravity, as it carried through corridors of beech and spruce last years leaves, and some leafless twigs, and a brand-new, unwanted soccer ball...1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 4.9, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 109
2. (UK) The high-profile removal of a person from an organization.
   • Be that as it may, his defenestration was coldly abrupt, and in his place, the Football Association resurrected a veteran manager and former England star in Joe Mercer for seven games.2005 September 4, The Sunday Times, London
   • With Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid gone from the cabinet, it could all be over for Boris Johnson – although quite how long it will take his enemies to finish him off is not at all clear and his defenestration does not look immediate.2022 July 5, Andrew Sparrow, “As Sunak and Javid quit cabinet, is it all over for Boris Johnson?”, in The Guardian
   1. (UK, figuratively) to eliminate from a contest or sport championship
      • Parrott had described Thursday’s defenestration of Cristiano Ronaldo’s team as the best night of his life, only for Sunday to be yet more gloriously dramatic. The former Tottenham trainee, who plays in the Dutch Eredivisie for AZ Alkmaar, would almost certainly not have started Ireland’s...2025 November 16, John Brewin, “Parrott hat-trick sickens Hungary as Ireland grab World Cup playoff spot in wild win”, in The Guardian
3. (humorous) The act of removing the Microsoft Windows operating system from a computer in order to install an alternative one.
   • Defenestration might be an option too. May I recommend Linux?1998 November 1, “Dorian Bliss”, “He’s dead, Jim”, in rec.humor.oracle.d (Usenet), message-ID <363DA726.C27FA5F@spamfree.land>
   • It's defenestration day in Redmond today. A clearly stunned Microsoft did what it could to pretend that Judge Jackson's findings of fact were "just one step", as [Bill] Gates put said in the prepared statement that he read at a press conference last night, but it was hopeless.1999 November 6, Graham Lea, “Stunned MS vows to fight on for freedom: ‘Integrity, partnership, quality … giving’ – (takes out onion)”, in The Register, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2014