in parliamentary procedure, method for ending debate and securing an immediate vote on a measure that is before a deliberative body, even when some members wish to continue the debate. Provision for invoking cloture was made in the British House of Commons (Commons, House of) in 1882, with the requirement that such a motion could carry only if it received at least 100 affirmative votes.

A cloture's main purpose is to provide a means to check a filibuster—an endless debate by a minority to keep a motion from being put to a vote. In most parliamentary bodies a cloture motion is not debatable, is not subject to amendment, and requires more than a simple majority vote. For example, in the United States Senate a three-fifths vote is necessary, which then limits debate to an additional 30 hours.