Cloture

 

The term cloture (see U.S. Senate Rule 22) refers to the mechanism whereby a supermajority (3/5 unless it is a vote to amend the senate rules and then it requires 2/3 majority) agrees to limit further debate on the question being considered before the legislative body (see Filibuster), in order to move more quickly towards a vote. This mechanism is used by the U.S. Senate but not the U.S. House of Representatives.

 

Example:

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The three senators who had been attempting to kill the agriculture bill were planning to filibuster the bill on the floor so the patron quickly tried to identify whether or not there would.

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US Senate Definition

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“The cloture rule–Rule 22–is the only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuster. A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter. Under cloture, the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours of debate.”

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Reference:

 

http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Cloture_vrd.htm